


Snickerdoodle

by Megara09, wibblywobblydemonydeducythings



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Depression, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Sabriel Big Bang 2015, Self-Harm, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 23:19:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5984023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megara09/pseuds/Megara09, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wibblywobblydemonydeducythings/pseuds/wibblywobblydemonydeducythings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sam Winchester entered his last semester at Clark State Community College, he had no clue what was in store. Taking a class with a professor he couldn’t stand, Sam was horrified to discover that the man was, in fact, his soulmate. Hijinks and heartbreak ensue as the two men try to stumble their way through mutual dislike into that thing they call love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to mine and Luce's 2015 entry for the Sabriel Big bang. Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. To the left, we have rather explicit sexual content, so please be warned - this is definitely not a kiddie ride. To the right, we have a nice little shot of angst with some miscommunication and wrong assumptions. Straight ahead and into the feels we go!

The art for this work was done by the LiveJournal user, [emmatheslayer.](http://emmatheslayer.livejournal.com/)

* * *

 

 

Two and a half years.

That was how long it had been since Sam Winchester had first set foot in the hallways of Crawford Hall. They’d been a blissful two and a half years. Sam, of course, had aced all of his classes, and was now looking at a possible full ride to Stanford’s law school.

While the rest of his peers had been more focused on finding their soulmates, Sam had buried himself in his studies. Since the tattoos didn’t appear until a person’s 21st birthday, Sam hadn’t felt the need to worry about it.

With one semester left until his core class requirements were filled, Sam made his way to his advisor to look at his options and see what classes he still needed to take that would ensure him a scholarship to the law program. Unfortunately, the conversation did not go as well as Sam had hoped. He left his advisor’s office with more worries on his mind than when he entered. He was one history elective short of fulfilling his quota, and apparently the only class which had an opening was Norse mythology. The course was a slacker’s dream with the jokester of a professor - the bane of the entire teaching faculty - Gabriel Milton.

Gabriel was one of the youngest teachers around campus, nearly fresh out of school. He’d been teaching for only two years and already he was known all over the school as the easy teacher. His class was the one everyone took to ensure an easy A.

Gabriel believed learning should be fun and that grades were nothing more than a way for the system to bring you down. He taught his class with undeniable passion, but he also gave grades away like it was Christmas. He’d never wanted to fail anyone. Until Sam Winchester walked into his class, that is.

Right away, he could tell that Sam was one of the uptight kids who had never learned to relax during school. The way the kid pulled out a fresh notebook and lined his pencils up on top of his desk just screamed _control freak_. He just knew he was going to have fun yanking this kid’s chain.

The first week or so, he let the kid - and really, Sam was taller than he was, so _kid_ probably wasn’t an apt nickname - slide by. He watched Sam furiously scribbling notes as he talked, saw the effort he put into his work. He almost felt bad for what he had planned to do.

_Almost_.

Finally, Gabriel had had enough of Sam’s overachiever attitude. It started off slow, just a few points docked here or there for little things. When Sam simply studied all the much harder for the next test, Gabriel rolled his eyes.

The pattern of docking points and furious studying continued for weeks. When midterms came around, the rest of the class did as Gabriel bade and didn’t bother to study. Sam, however, refused to take the easy road. He spent the weekend before the test going over every page of notes he had written. None of it paid off. The next class day, when Gabriel handed back test papers, Sam’s heart stopped beating as he looked at the giant red _F_ circled at the top of the page.

The class passed in a blur as Sam tried to think _how_ he could have missed that many questions. He barely noticed the class ending and his peers leaving, but he finally came back to himself as Gabriel walked in front of him. (Sam, of course, had chosen a seat at the front of the class.)

Blinking to refocus his eyes, Sam looked over at the teacher and felt his anger rising. He quickly gathered his things and stalked to the shorter man. Trying to keep his temper in check out of respect for the position if not the man, he said quietly, “Mr. Milton, can you please tell me why I failed this test? I studied all weekend!”

Gabriel snorted. “That’s why.”

Taken aback, Sam stared for a moment. “I’m sorry, I failed because I studied?”

“Exactamundo. Well,” he corrected himself, “you failed because you have a giant stick up your ass and can’t take a free ride when it’s given to you.”

Sam choked at the bluntness of Gabriel’s words. “W-what?”

Gabriel turned from putting his things away and faced the student. “Look, kiddo. This class is not meant to be taken seriously. It’s a free pass for you yahoos on the way out but needing an extra class. Half the kids that come through those doors are too burnt out to be as studious as you. So, I give them an out. I mean really, who needs to know the ins and outs of Norse mythology? Odin was an ass, Loki was a ho, and Thor was a douchebag.”

“But...why fail me?” Sam asked, his face scrunching in confusion.

Gabriel sighed. “You’re taking it too seriously. Accept the fact, sasquatch, that the more you study, the less you pass.” Gabriel had finished putting his things away and was more than ready to leave, but Sam’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around and was surprised to see Sam’s face all red and his breath uneven.

“You. Are. Getting. Reported.” Sam’s anger had gone over the bubbling stage and was now vaporizing some of his brain cells.

Gabriel snorted a laugh. “Yeah? Good luck, kiddo.” He slowly took Sam’s hand off his shoulder and tried to walk away.

“This is _not_ fair! What am I supposed to do? Just slack off like the rest of the idiots in class?” Sam was starting to show his temper, his voice growing louder with each word.

“Yep, you got it. Face it, Sam; this grade is staying. There is nothing you can do to change it.” Gabriel was more than calm in the face of the angry monster that was riding on Sam’s back. He turned back to the desk and picked up his things to head out the door.

Sam mumbled to himself, “Fuck. At least I’m finally legal. I can drink this whole day out of my memory.”

“Good luck with that,” Gabriel tossed back as he exited the classroom.

* * *

 

That night, Sam sat on a barstool at the Roadhouse, trying to wash down the bitterness of the day with the harsh taste of whiskey.

Just as he was getting ready to leave, reminding himself that he had an early class, a body plopped down a few stools down from him. Looking over, he saw the blonde hair and self-satisfied smirk of his teacher. Sam gave his professor one of his famous bitch faces, but Gabriel, not even noticing him, simply smiled as he gestured for the bartender.

The Roadhouse was the closest bar to the university, which meant all the students went there. It was a place where you rarely got carded and the prices were very student friendly. Ellen, the owner of the bar, made sure to keep business going by hosting events and providing alcohol for the frat parties that happened all around campus.

After Ellen brought Gabriel his drink, she continued over to Sam. Gabriel followed her with his eyes and let out a half choke when he noticed Sam.

“Whoa, do my eyes deceive me? Uptight Samuel Winchester drinking on a school night?” Gabriel exclaimed.

Sam rolled his own eyes and retorted, “I’m more than capable of relaxing for a night, like any normal newly-minted adult. Not that you would understand, since you’re not one yourself, with you being the joke of the entire campus and all.”

For a second, Sam swore he saw hurt swirling in those golden eyes, but it was gone the next second. “You know nothing about me, kiddo. So why don’t you take that massive stick and go fuck it. Obviously you can’t do without it shoved up your ass.” Dismissing him, Gabriel turned back to the bar and nursed the remainder of his beer.

“Wow, getting a little dramatic, are we?” Sam tried to joke, hoping to lighten the suddenly tension-filled air. He brushed his fingers through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m more than a little drunk, and I tend to say things I shouldn’t. Let me buy you a drink as an apology? Since my foot seems to be indefinitely stuck in my mouth.”

“I don’t need you to buy me drinks, and I really couldn’t care less about your foot _or_ your mouth. So would you please move away and let that hot blond over there have your stool?” Gabriel said.

“I have half a mind to stay, just to fuck with you,” Sam said daringly.

“Ha! You really think you’re in my league, kid? You’re too drunk to fuck with anyone. So take your lonesome, crappy beer and go do some homework,” Gabriel said, being a bitch.

Sam felt a surge of irritation go through him when Gabriel obviously dismissed him to stare at someone across the bar. The student turned to study the blond man Gabriel was so obviously undressing with his eyes. The moment he realized that Gabriel’s target was looking back at the teacher, making eyes and flirting, Sam felt all reason leave his mind. Feeling uncharacteristically possessive, he glared at the other man as he ran his fingers through Gabriel’s hair in a wordless claim.

Gabriel felt his heart skip a beat as Sam’s fingers curled through his hair. He watched the blonde man - a fellow teacher named Balthazar - roll his eyes and look resolutely away. When he looked back at Sam, the kid had a smug smile on his face and his eyes glowed with mischief.

“Not in your league? You really don’t know anything about me, Gabriel. Don’t fuck with me, and I won’t fuck with you,” Sam said, his tone dry and a little evil.

Gabriel smiled, and felt a twitch in his stomach that he ignored. There was something about this kid that just made him want to stay. Maybe the same thing that made him want to come to this bar after hearing Sam was planning on drinking his day away.

“You might have potential when it comes to _fucking_ with people, but you have nothing on me when it comes to drinking, newly-minted adult.” Gabriel replied, knowing very well that Sam would not refuse the challenge.

Sam huffed a laugh and, with a determined look in his eyes, challenged, “I can match you, drink for drink. You think this is my first time drinking?”

“Well then, let’s see what you got,” Gabriel replied before he turned to Ellen and waved her over.

The first drink Gabriel ordered was a shot of tequila, which he made sure Sam downed in one go. This was later followed by a pitcher of beer, a few more shots, and then yet more beer. As the two drank the night away, they found more things to fight over. Stuff ranging from a simple _fuck, marry, kill_ game, to history and politics. They argued loudly and more than once they dragged Ellen into their arguments.

Midnight struck and Sam realized he needed to get going. He had already drunk entirely too much and he had an early class in the morning. Though it was killing him to admit defeat, especially to Gabriel, school came first. That was more important than showing off to an asshat of a teacher he hated.

"Well, it's been fun, but I'm calling it a night," Sam announced as he got up from the stool.

“What, seriously? Oh, does your ride turn into a pumpkin too?” Gabriel asked as he hooked a finger around the neck of a beer bottle.

“Excuse me?” Sam asked.

“Well, you better go now, before your wheels turn back into mice, Cinderella,” Gabriel replied, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Sam huffed a bitter laugh before he looked straight into Gabriel’s eyes. “If I’m Cinderella, who does that make you? Lucifer? The ever-lasting pain in my ass?”

“You better get going, Ella. Mommy must be worried,” Gabriel said. He took a long swig of his drink, missing the flash of pain in Sam’s eyes before his features settled into granite.

“Fuck you, Gabriel. You don’t know anything about me. For your information, my mother is _dead_. And I’m not just some know-it-all freaking out because my GPA may dip. I need an A in your class to get a fucking scholarship. Thanks for fucking up my future, dickhead.” The alcohol in Sam’s system made him a bit more talkative than usual and more colorful with his language.

“Fuck, kid, I didn’t know. Sorry about your mom. How about I buy you another drink, since you already blew my chances with Balthazar. Can’t leave a guy stranded without a drinking buddy!”

Sam pushed his hair back from his face, debating. “Can we stick to beer? I do have an early class tomorrow.”

Gabriel waved him off. “Skip it! I can write a note saying you were helping me with some research.” The offer was accompanied by a suggestive eyes wiggle.

The student laughed and sat back down. “Leave out the innuendo and you have a deal.”

“Aww, where’s the fun in that?!” Gabriel demanded, waving for two more drinks.

“Not getting called out for sleeping with a teacher for a grade? I’d rather like to _not_ be expelled in my last semester here.” Sam replied, and gave Gabriel a determined look.

“How about this, then? I buy us a bottle of tequila and, if you finish it with me - and I mean _with_ me, not have a sip while I chug the whole bottle - I’ll give you an A plus for the rest of the semester. I’ll even write you a recommendation letter.” Gabriel hid the smug smile on his face with the beer still in his hand, knowing the overachiever in Sam would never pass on such an opportunity.

It took the taller man seconds before he blurted out, “Deal!”

Gabriel grinned and waved the bartender back over. “Forget about the beers. We need tequila, the whole bottle.”

A sly smile spread across Sam’s face as he thought to himself how easy this would be. Obviously Gabriel was already trashed, and Sam could afford to skip one last class. Especially if it would guarantee him an A+ and a recommendation.

Gabriel, on the other hand, wore the smuggest smile he’d ever had, thinking he would drink this kid into oblivion. Surely this was his first time drinking - or at least one of the first - and there was no way he could keep that tight-ass attitude going after half a bottle of tequila.

No way!

Five shots in, Gabriel began to notice how Sam’s smile lit up his face as the student laughed at one of Gabriel’s lame jokes. Sam, also five shots gone, remembered how soft Gabriel’s hair looked and his fingers itched to run through the shaggy blonde strands once again.

By the time they’d both bolted down eight shots, the bottle was over half gone and they’d both mostly forgotten the deal. Sam couldn’t stop staring at Gabriel’s lips, licking his own as he imagined what it would be like to kiss the other man.

Gabriel’s gaze kept straying to Sam’s forearms, brilliantly displayed by the rolled-up sleeves of his flannel shirt. When the flexing muscles there weren’t drawing his attention, Gabriel’s eyes took in the way Sam kept licking his lips. _“I wanna taste those,”_ he thought suddenly. A brief moment of clarity washed over him. He couldn’t do that; Sam was his student!

A moment later, Gabriel poured the last of their bottle in a glass and slid it across the small distance between them. As Sam went to grab for the shot glass, his fingers brushed Gabriel’s. Their eyes met and widened at the fire that spread from the small contact. Sam’s face waffled for a few seconds before it settled into an expression that Gabriel felt to his toes.

_Seduction_.

It wasn’t very well done, which could have been blamed on the alcohol more than anything. But, as cheesy as Sam’s expression looked, it was doing the trick. Gabriel jumped when Sam’s fingers landed on his arm, trailing lightly up and down as Sam once more bit his lip.

Gabriel immediately felt the party starting in his underwear. His breath hitched and he licked his lips. He threw back his last shot, which Sam mimicked, and he gulped as dirty, kinky, and unholy thoughts raced through his head.

He gave Sam a once over, as if he was seeing him in a whole new light. The kid was fucking _hot_! He had the most glorious hair ever, his eyes were like vortexes - you could get lost in them for years. He had the most luscious lips, not to mention his neck, or chest or even his arms…

“Oh, shit,” he mumbled to himself. He shook his head and sipped the beer he still had from earlier.

Sam smirked and let his fingers run through Gabriel’s soft hair until his fingers brushed Gabriel’s ear. He grabbed the earlobe and rubbed it slowly and gently. He broke the heart-skipping eye contact with his teacher to look down at his lips, then he guided his eyes to the outlines of the boner that was forming in Gabriel’s pants.

His smirk grew and he looked back into Gabe’s eyes before he blindly grabbed his own leftover beer and chugged it down, wiping the drop that was on his lips with his thumb. Gabriel had never seen anything so sensual in his life.

Granted they were both trashed - had been since maybe the third shot of that bottle - but they wanted each other, more and more every moment. Sam let his hand slide slowly from Gabriel’s earlobe down to his chest, making a trail all the way down to the hardened flesh trying to break through the fabric of his jeans, drenching it with precum as it swelled.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Gabriel asked, wondering if maybe he was about to faint. He had never been so attracted to anyone, not sober or drunk. His eyes raked Sam’s form, taking in the whole six-foot-four package. Dimly, he realized that getting them both drunk may not have been the best idea. The next moment, he was being dragged from his seat by an enthusiastic Sam, all the way to the makeshift dance floor.

“I love this song!” Sam laughed as he caught Gabriel’s hands to pull him closer. The thumping bass echoed Gabriel’s heart as Sam drew him close enough to press their bodies together for a breathtaking moment before drawing away.

Gabriel wanted to whimper as Sam continued to tease him, rubbing himself along Gabriel’s body in brief snatches to the beat of the song. Sam made a noise, and Gabriel looked up to see the younger man biting his lip as he stared down at Gabriel with naked want written across his face. The teacher felt his knees weaken as the tenuous hold on his willpower slipped that much more.

Sam felt the words of the song flow through him as he moved against Gabriel. He pressed himself even closer, the words tumbling out and sending warm air down Gabriel’s neck. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me.” As the words registered in Gabriel’s mind, Sam pressed his hips into Gabriel’s for a split second before twisting around and dropping so that his ass was perfectly level with Gabriel’s dick. Heat shot through Sam as he circled his hips; he was drunk as hell, but if there was one thing he still knew how to do, it was dancing.

He dropped to his knees, rubbing his ass and back against Gabriel’s lap the whole way down. While he was on his knees, he turned around and got up slowly, his body pressed tight against Gabriel’s. He let his fingers run through Gabe’s hair and down his neck. He grabbed it and pulled him closer.

“I want you, really, really bad,” Sam whispered in Gabriel’s ear. The older man completely lost control. He moved away and looked up at Sam’s lips, thinking about kissing them. Before he could, Sam seemed to read his mind and slowly closed the gap between their lips, locking them in a passionate kiss.

Sam’s hands cupped Gabriel’s face and slowly worked their way into his hair, tugging a little at the ones on the back of the teacher’s neck. Gabriel’s hands wandered around Sam’s back, feeling the muscles over the thin flannel shirt.

“Let’s go home,” Gabriel whispered against Sam’s lips, and the kid couldn’t have been more excited. He dragged Gabriel away from the dance floor, went to their bar stools and got their coats while Gabe paid the tab, and ran out as quickly as possible.

The walk back to Gabriel’s off-campus apartment usually took five minutes, but with all the stops the couple made, kissing in alleyways and groping each other behind walls, it took them about fifteen minutes to get there.

The door couldn’t open quickly enough, Sam pressed against Gabriel, licking his ear while the teacher struggled to get the keys and get inside before his neighbors saw them.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, the two were all over each other, drunkenly undressing the other and pressing kisses anywhere they could reach.

It wasn’t too long before they were both stark naked, staring lustily at each other. Sam couldn’t help but moan a little at the sight of Gabriel’s erection. He couldn’t wait to get that monster into his mouth and, later, inside him. Gabriel took in Sam’s toned body and felt a moment of insecurity, but the blatant appreciation in Sam’s gaze quickly dispelled it.

A car outside honked its horn. As if it were the starting blast to a race, Sam and Gabriel both lunged forward. Their lips met in a filthy, open-mouthed kiss. The alcohol was strong on their breath, reminding Gabriel of why this was a bad idea.

When Sam’s erection dragged across his own, the thought flew from Gabriel’s head. In a display of strength he didn’t know he had, he lifted Sam by the thighs and strode to his bedroom. Sam curled his legs around Gabriel’s waist and licked and bit his way up and down Gabriel’s neck.

They barely made it to the bed.

Gabriel unceremoniously dropped Sam onto the foot of the bed and moved quickly to get lube and a condom. Even in a drunken stupor, he knew better than to chance going without protection. When he looked back at Sam, he had to grasp the base of his cock tightly to keep from coming then and there.

Sam had two fingers knuckle deep inside himself, his hips coming up off the bed in attempt to get them deeper. As Gabriel watched, Sam slid a third finger inside, hissing at the stretch but still grinding his hips into the motion. When Sam moaned loudly, Gabriel shook his head and got back into the game. He quickly slipped the condom on as he made his way back to Sam.

The student was still moving against his own fingers, but it didn’t seem to be enough for him. Gabriel moved in closer, nudging Sam’s knees wider apart and gripping his wrist to pull those long fingers out and away. He dripped lube onto Sam’s already-puffy hole and used a finger to massage it around and then inside. Sam whined and jerked his hips toward Gabriel, trying to force his finger further inside.

“Patience, kiddo,” Gabriel teased as he removed his finger.

“Gabriel, _please_. fuck me!” Sam cried out. His fingers tangled in the sheets as Gabriel rubbed the head of his cock against Sam’s entrance.

“If you insist,” came the snarky, if breathless, reply. Gabriel pushed his hips forward, bracing one hand on the bed beside Sam as he waited for Sam’s body to accept him. When it finally did, Gabriel felt his heart skip a beat at the heat and tightness that surrounded him. The walls of Sam’s body seemed to flutter around him as the younger man breathed harshly to acclimate to the size of Gabriel.

Gabriel let his head rest on Sam’s chest as he fought down his orgasm. When Sam experimentally clenched around him, it was over. Gabriel gasped and tried to hold off, but there was no hope. He managed a few erratic thrusts into Sam before shuddering and collapsing on top of his student. When Sam whined and rolled his hips into Gabriel, he reached down and wrapped a hand around Sam’s dick, jerking him quickly to bring him over as well.

Warm seed covered Gabriel’s hand as Sam came, groaning at the release. They lay there, panting, trying to catch their breath. Finally, Gabriel pushed himself up so that he could pull out of Sam and take care of the used condom. Sam sighed and forced himself to stand, making his way to the bathroom to clean up his own mess. The buzz from the sex mixed with the buzz from the alcohol, and Sam stumbled as he walked back to the bedroom. He flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes, enjoying the softness of the mattress below him.

Gabriel used a dirty shirt to clean himself up before tumbling into the bed as well. He hesitated for a moment before scooting up to Sam and wrapping an arm around him.

They were both asleep in moments.

* * *

 

The next morning, Sam woke to the feeling of a hammer bashing his head and the taste of something dead in his mouth. He groaned, throwing a hand over his face to block out the light that shined hatefully into the room. He turned around in bed and felt a lump of flesh breathing right next to him.

Regret filled his mind as he slowly opened his eyes, praying for it to be anyone but Gabriel. Seriously, he would have rejoiced if he’d found that Ruby girl who kept throwing herself at him, even though he hated her guts.

He clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle the involuntary sound that tried to escape his lips. When Gabriel groaned and turned over to face the wall, Sam almost had a heart attack thinking his teacher had woken up.

He took a deep breath before he got up, pulling the sheets over him all the way up to his neck and he headed for the bathroom. He needed to think of a plan, some way to get out of this.

As soon as he was in the bathroom, he closed the door and leaned on it dejectedly as flashbacks of the night before suddenly flooded his already wrecked brain. He slid down against the door and dropped his head into his hands as he tried to think of something, anything, to get him out of this situation. Images from the night before kept coming back to him; apparently there was a sexy dance and a lot of PDA in corners and alleyways. He ran his hands through his hair and rested his head on his knees.

Finally, it hit him. If they were that drunk, there was no way that Gabriel would remember it was Sam with him! The student could pretend none of it was true. Surely a teacher wouldn’t go around campus asking if he was smooching a student the night before. If he left right now, before Gabriel could wake up and see him, it would all be well.

He smiled as he got up and made his way to the sink, letting the sheet drop on his way to wash the nasty taste of the night before out of his mouth. He had barely managed to splash some water on his face, thinking of how foolproof his plan was, when Gabriel burst through the door of the bathroom, running straight towards the toilet.

He hung his head over the seat as the entire contents of his stomach found its way out. Gabriel threw up for long minutes, not noticing the shocked look on Sam's face, frozen in place behind him.

"Gabriel?" Sam's voice was a bit gruff, remainders of last night, and his tone had more shock than question in it.

"What?" the teacher groaned from inside the toilet seat, his arm thrown around it, hugging it.

"When did you get a tramp stamp with my name on it? And why?" Sam was hesitating, unsure of whether he really wanted his questions answered.

"A tramp stamp? Wha-?" Gabriel groaned and stood, turning this way and that to see the new marking on his back. When he finally got a good look at it in the mirror behind Sam, his stomach twisted and he hurried back to the toilet once more.

Sam, for his part, was in denial. "No, no, no, no. No! Are you kidding me? It must be another one. Sam is a common name, maybe it's someone else. It can't be m- what the hell are you laughing about?"

Gabriel took a moment to wipe his mouth and flush the toilet before he turned a saccharine smile at Sam. "Look in the mirror,” he said in a matching tone of voice.

"What?" Sam asked, confused at the sudden turn.

"Turn around and look in the mirror."

Sam turned around and took a look at his face, trying to figure out what Gabriel was talking about. He couldn't see anything, though. Same hair, same eyes, same mouth that he saw every morning. "What am I supposed to see here?" he finally asked, growing impatient.

"Look down,” came the sarcastic reply.

Sam did and felt his breath catch. There was no fucking way. This could _not_ be happening to him. His fingers drifted up to his collarbone to touch the offending mark, hoping it was just his imagination. When he felt the slightly raised whorls and swirls of black ink, his heart stopped.

There, for all the world to see, was the name of his soulmate.

_Gabriel M._

__

* * *

 

__

_Art by the amazingly talented[owlwithafringe.](http://owlwithafringe.tumblr.com/)_


	2. Chapter 2

More art from Emma!

* * *

 

 

_“No, no, no, no. This can’t be right. He can’t be my mate. I fucking hate him! There has to be some mistake,”_ Sam thought, the ideas running on a loop inside his brain. Numb, he met Gabriel’s eyes in the mirror, seeing his own doubt and disbelief echoed in the other man. He turned and leaned against the sink, uncaring of his nudity or Gabriel’s. “What the fuck. What am I going to do?”

“You?” Gabriel questioned sharply. “What am _I_ going to do? If word gets out that I boned one of my students, I could get _fired_ , soulmate or not. You may not think so, but I genuinely like my job.”

“Yeah, and I could get kicked out of the college for trying to trade favors for grades!” Sam yelled back. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Look, we obviously have no intention of trying to make this work, so let’s just keep quiet about last night and get through the rest of the semester. Then I’ll be off to California and you’ll never see me again.”

“Oh, yeah,” Gabriel snarked, “I see no way this could go wrong. Do you know how many people were at the bar last night? Any one of them could squeal and ruin both our futures.”

“So we act like it never happened. If they ask, act like they’re crazy. It _is_ a bar. I’m sure most people who saw us were as drunk as we were.”

Gabriel eyed Sam speculatively. “You really don’t want to give it a shot?”

Sam snorted. “Do I want to try to make a relationship out of mutual disrespect and hatred with a man who _failed me because of my personality_? Yeah, no thanks.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Just asking. Not like I’d be any more in favor of it than you. I can’t believe fate saddled me with a guy with no sense of humor. Now _that’s_ a laugh.”

Sam tried not to let the words pierce him, but he felt the shards of truth in his heart. He had always been a serious child, ever since he could remember. Always studious, trying to earn the favor of his father with intellect, since he had never had the brawn John Winchester had tried to encourage.

Shaking his head - and really, it didn’t matter, since he didn’t plan on being this man’s mate - Sam pushed away from the sink and padded into the bedroom to get his clothes. As he tugged on his shirt, Gabriel wandered in after brushing his teeth.

“Look, kiddo. I didn’t mean for last night to happen. I just wanted to get you to loosen up some. I didn’t think we’d end up here. But, you did stay with me drink for drink, so you earned your A.” Gabriel didn’t look at Sam as he spoke, instead focusing on pulling on his own clothes.

“I don’t want your pity grade,” Sam grated out.

“Whoa, pity grade? Kiddo, you earned that grade with the last shot of tequila last night. Wasn’t that the deal? Share the bottle for a grade?”

Sam tugged his shoes on and stood, towering over Gabriel. “Whatever. See you tomorrow, _Mister Milton_.”

Gabriel watched Sam go with a sour taste in his mouth that had nothing to do with the last twenty-four hours, and everything to do with the sense of loss that grew with every step Sam took. With a sigh, he shook it off and headed to the bathroom to get a shower. The clothes he’d pulled on smelled like tequila and smoke, and Gabriel was sure he didn’t smell much better. He’d deal with this after he’d had a shower and got some food in his belly.

* * *

 

Sam trudged back to the dorms, growing sicker with every step. What would everyone say? He didn’t have many friends here, but the few he had were important to him. Charlie would be excited for him, if he worked up the guts to tell her. Kevin would agree that his schooling was more important. Andy wouldn’t care, stoner that he was. Not much ruffled Andy’s feathers.

He finally got to his door after a long trek from Gabriel’s off-campus apartment. Sam rattled the doorknob but it wouldn’t budge. He knocked, hoping Andy would wake up and unlock the door for him, but no answer came. He knocked again and again, but Andy seemed to be sleeping deeply.

Sam threw his backpack down and slid against the wall, waiting for his roommate to wake up. It was somewhere around 7 in the morning, and students in the dormitory were waking up for their classes. Kevin, who lived right across the hall from Sam opened his door and walked out, almost tripping on Sam’s long legs.

“What are you doing here?” Kevin rubbed his eyes and stretched to wake himself up properly. He was one of Sam’s closest friends; they understood each other. They were both book nerds, always putting their education first and not letting anything throw them off track.

“Andy’s sleeping, door locked, me stuck.” Sam was struggling to get the words out of his mouth.

Kevin smiled at his friend and almost walked away, until he glimpsed down Sam’s open shirt and saw there was a tattoo on his collarbone.

“You got your tattoo? Who is it?” he asked politely, not really interested as much as trying to show his friend the same courtesy which Sam showed on Kevin’s birthday.

Sam buttoned his shirt all the way up to his neck and cleared his throat, trying to think of something. “No one. I mean, no one in school,” he stuttered.

“Okay,” Kevin nodded before he made his way to the common bathroom. He wasn’t really interested in soulmates and whatnot; he was more about schoolwork. When Kevin had turned twenty one last week, his tattoo revealed his soulmate to be a cute blonde in second year.

Her name was Jo and she was badass as could be. She’d gotten her tattoo and took fate by the horns, looking for Kevin T. When someone pointed her in Kevin’s direction, she couldn’t have been happier. He was everything she wasn’t, which was perfect for her. They complimented each other so well, filling the gaps in the other’s life.

Kevin was strict, though; he made sure his studies came first. Jo got the time between classes, and one day during the weekend, usually Saturday. Jo couldn’t have complained since she herself had interests that she wanted to keep following, and a relationship, as nice as it was, wasn’t going to tear her away from them.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief when Kevin turned the corner. He had no idea how he was supposed to hide such an obvious tattoo. He got up and pounded hard on the door; Andy must have been smoking pot last night to have been so deeply asleep.

A few minutes later, Sam heard the door unlocking. He got up and grabbed his backpack. The door opened swiftly, with someone sneaking out. It was a girl, a bit difficult to make out who she was until she spoke.

“Morning, bucko,” the dark haired girl said as she looked over her shoulder at Sam and smiled seductively.

“Good morning,” Sam said quietly in return. As soon as she turned to walk away, he shook his head in disgust; somehow the girl had always made his skin crawl.

Sam walked inside and threw his backpack at his roommate, trying to wake him up for class. Andy groaned and rolled in bed, covering his face from the sun that Sam let in by opening the shades of the window.

“Ruby, Andy? Ruby?!” Sam asked as he began to gather clean clothes for after his shower.

“What? She’s hot!” Andy said nonchalantly, not really caring how evil the girl was.

She belonged to Beta Kappa Nu, which was known around campus as one of the meaner sororities; some claimed the girls were downright evil. All the girls who belonged to it were the most torturing, treacherous, evil girls you could have ever found.

Rowena was the house mother, taking care of the house and regulations for the girls. Well into her forties, she’d been a BKN during her years as a student and had leapt at the chance to come back when asked. Her job was to make sure everything was up to school regulations. While she bore a calm, collected demeanor for the school officials, the girls came to her for guidance on their next targets or plans. She had red fiery hair, spoke with a lilting Scottish accent, and some said she was a Wiccan.

Eve was their president, and she brought about a whole new meaning for the word _evil_. She ruled the house; as the president of the Betas it was her job to make sure everyone followed in the footsteps of their foremothers. She handled the planning and plotting, leaving the doing for the little ones.

Ruby was the vice president of the sorority. She had fought a tough battle for the presidency, but Eve had won the spot effortlessly - which made Ruby even more vicious, taking her frustration out on poor, defenseless freshmen.

Bela, the most perfect conwoman to ever exist, had gotten two professors fired, four boys expelled and sent seven girls to the psych ward for a while. She was great when it came to head games - maybe the best the sorority had seen.

Anna, younger cousin to Gabriel, was the sweetest little girl on campus. For about six months, anyways, before ΒKN saw some potential in her and recruited her. They brainwashed her and set her loose on the other students. She was their best fighter, possessing a black belt and having at least some knowledge of almost every martial art around. (Not that she used them much, except on boys who just wouldn’t back off.)

Meg was the most powerful girl on campus, as her father basically owned the school. The only reason she wasn’t president of the sorority was that she just didn’t want it. It was too much responsibility for her, and Meg was all about fun. Drinking, partying... Anything that wasn’t studying was Meg’s cup of tea.

Abby was the cruelest one of them all; she was the torture expert. She made it her life’s goal to torture anyone who crossed her, or her girls. Public humiliations, pranks, taking over things just so others couldn’t. That was her favourite thing to do. No wonder she was studying political science.

Ava was ruthless, deceiving and plain dangerous, Lilith could probably kill you with a kiss, and the rest of the girls were no less dangerous.

As for Sam, he felt it well within his rights to stay as far away from any of them as he could get. Starting with this. “Look, Andy, I’m just not comfortable with her being around my stuff. You know she and Bela are good friends, and Bela stole all that stuff from Brady a few weeks ago.”

Andy snorted. “Dude. It was just a one night thing. I don’t wanna date the chick. We just happened to be doing the same thing at the same time. And it was awesome,” Andy said as he laughed. “Oh, man. She’s freaking crazy. The things that chick will do to get high. I swear, it was like a religious experience.”

Sam rolled his eyes and pulled out a clean pair of underwear before grabbing his shower bag. “I’m gonna go get a shower. You need to be up, too. Our Lit class starts in less than an hour.” Without waiting for a reply, Sam left the room. He just didn’t understand how Andy could get high as often as he did and still manage to make such good grades.

In the shower, he managed to hide his tattoo by sheer luck. Thankfully, nobody he was familiar with was in there at the time. He’d worried about running into Kevin, but the honors student was usually rather quick about the time he spent in the communal bathroom. ( _“It’s disgusting, Sam! So many germs, I can’t even think about it without getting sick.”)_

Back in his room, freshly changed and mostly ready to face the day, Sam sighed as he sat on the bed and rubbed at his collarbone. How could fate have been so cruel? To be mated to a man he couldn’t stand seemed like a punishment rather than a reward.

Andy finally seemed to realize what time it was at that moment, distracting Sam from his melancholic thoughts. “Shit, dude. We gotta get to Crowley’s class!”

Sam forced down a laugh as he grabbed his bookbag and followed Andy’s form down the hall. He could do this. Just seven more weeks before he’d be gone to California.

* * *

 

Gabriel groaned at the throbbing in his head as the last student filed out of his class for the day. Today had been one of his worst since becoming a teacher. Of course, his other bad days hadn’t included sleeping with a student only to find out that said student was his mate, only to be blown off by said mate.

As he watched the kids milling around outside, Gabriel sighed. This was just another in a long line of cosmic jokes that Gabriel seemed to be the butt of.

The sight of a familiar form had Gabriel jolting upright. Sam was walking through the little courtyard outside his classroom, talking to a tall redhead who seemed to bounce more than walk. She smiled up at Sam before punching him in the arm. From Sam’s face, it wasn’t a soft, playful hit.

They looked close, familiar with each other. Gabriel’s heart hurt at the thought that maybe she was why Sam had reacted so badly - he was in love with someone else...

***********

“Ow, Charlie, what the fuck?” Sam yelped. “That hurt!”

“It was supposed to, you moron. I can’t believe you. You’re going to reject your _soulmate_ just because you two butt heads? I’d be so happy to get my tattoo, let alone meet the person _._ You just don’t know how lucky you are, Sam,” the feisty redhead said.

Sam sighed. “I didn’t even mean to tell you. I was going to try to keep it quiet, since we’re not doing anything about it.”

“Oh, so busting out with _‘Charlie, my soulmate is my mythology teacher’_ was a total accident?”

“Uh, yeah?” Sam said shyly. “It just came out! Look, can we not talk about it? I’m trying to forget that last night ever even happened.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Fine, but we’re going to talk about it eventually. Anyways, close your eyes. I got you something.”

“Charlie, no, you didn’t have to do that,” Sam protested.

“It’s your birthday. Of course I’m going to get you something,” the redhead argued as she bullied Sam into sitting on a stone bench. Once he was seated and had closed his eyes, Charlie pulled out a haphazardly-wrapped package from her bag. Placing them in Sam’s outstretched hands, she waited for his reaction.

Sam opened his eyes when he felt the weight on his hands. He smiled at the poorly wrapped gift and neatly unwrapped it. Charlie was jumping up and down, smiling big, waiting for Sam's reaction. He looked down and saw a box set of the series _A Song Of Ice And Fire_ and the DVDs for the companion show, _Game of Thrones_. His heart skipped and he smiled softly. "You remembered," he said, blinking quickly to keep his emotions in check.

"Of course I did, moron! You like?" Charlie was more than excited, already knowing the answer to her question. Sam put the gift slowly on his bag and engulfed the redhead in a bear hug, squeezing her extra tight and kissing the top of her head

Gabriel, from where he stood, saw the hug and his assumption was confirmed. Sam was dating this girl and, from the looks of it, he was deeply in love. From the softness with which he looked at her and the hand wandering on her face, tugging stray hairs behind her ear, he _must_ be deeply in love. Gabriel felt the bitterness of jealousy for a split second before he shook himself out of it. "You don't even like him!" he said to himself as he turned around and walked the opposite way, heading to his desk to gather his things to go home.

The past twenty four hours had been probably the worst in Gabriel’s entire life. He had gotten drunk, slept with a student, found his mate and lost him all in one day. _“Could things really get any worse?”_ he thought to himself as he gathered his papers and shoved them into his briefcase.

Apparently they could.

Gabriel turned around and found Sam standing at his door, looking sheepish and turning around to leave when the teacher spotted him. He cleared his throat to let Sam know he’d been seen.

Sam turned around, a blush rising on his face, not one of shyness but of embarrassment. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, unsure of what to say. _“I’m gonna kill Charlie,”_ he thought to himself. The redheaded firecracker had convinced - read, _bullied_ \- Sam into talking to Gabriel.

But now that he stood at his teacher’s door, he found that he had nothing to say to the man. He hated him! The man was a joke, and there was no way he would be with him. No possible way, no matter how cute he was, or how sweet his smile seemed. Nothing would make Sam want to be with such a man. Not his amber-golden eyes which seemed to peer into his soul, nor the soft hair that looked like it was made of silk.

Gabriel cleared his throat again before he spoke. “Can I help you, Winchester?” he asked, his tone cold, though his eyes failed to meet Sam’s. His heart was beating just a little faster than usual, and his stomach felt like it had dropped to his toes, weighed down by rocks of pure dread.

“Umm, no, I was... I just wanted to make sure that things were okay between us. Like, no hard feelings or anything,” Sam stammered. He had no idea what he was saying, but anything sounded better than ‘ _Let’s try and work it out.’ “Charlie is crazy as a loon!”_ he thought to himself, trying to ease the pain of the embarrassment he felt.

Gabriel’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand what Sam meant by those words. “ _Did he think I was going to keep failing him just ‘cause he got rejected? Does he think so little of me?”_

“No. No hard feelings; actually, no feelings at all. Except maybe some regret.” Gabriel was a proud man and, as if being rejected wasn’t enough, Sam had to rub salt on the wound and belittle him with that question.

“Okay, I- umm I’ve got class, so...” Sam made a leaving gesture and smiled awkwardly. He was shuffling his feet, waiting for Gabriel to respond so he could run out as fast as his legs could go.

Gabriel smiled politely, and waved him off before he turned around and went back to packing his things. When he heard Sam’s footsteps fade away he took a deep breath and sat down at his desk, his head between his hands.

The realization of the nature of his feelings for Sam was getting clearer to him, although he saw the kid as an uptight ass who wouldn’t know fun if it hit him in the face, he might actually like him.

“Crap,” he said out loud to no one.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam darted into his next class, some computer course required before graduation, and snagged a chair beside Charlie just as the teacher began to speak.

“Well?” she whispered.

Sam just glared and turned his computer on. When the redhead wouldn’t stop staring at him, he sighed. “It was awful, like I told you it would be.”

Charlie wanted to say something but found no words. She put her hand on Sam’s shoulder and smiled sympathetically at him before turning around to focus on what the teacher was saying. Sam, however, was finding focusing to be a difficult task, as his mind kept running a couple of classrooms back to Gabriel.

Finally the day ended, and Sam hauled his exhausted body to his room. He sat on his bed, toed his shoes off and laid back, his hands behind his head. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to think of anything that didn’t start with a G and end with an L. That was proving to be the most difficult task of the day.

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Gabriel’s golden ones, and it confused him more than ever. The flashbacks kept coming back to him, remembering bits and pieces of the night before. How Gabriel tasted, how soft his skin was, how amazing he felt inside of him. It was torturing Sam and he kept turning and twisting in his bed, unable to fall asleep.

When he finally managed to drift away, Gabriel haunted his dreams. Sam wasn’t sure whether it was a dream or a memory. It felt so real, Gabriel’s skin against his, and the taste of his lips. It all felt too real for a dream, the sounds, the moans, and even the breaths against his skin.

Sam jolted awake just as he was getting release in his dream. He looked down and found his pants soiled with cum. He hadn’t had a wet dream since he was a teenager, but apparently Gabriel brought it out in him again.

He changed his clothes, throwing the dirty ones in a pile next to his bed, and went back to sleep. Thankfully, he didn’t dream of anything this time. It was a peaceful blackness of nothing.

The day had finally ended.

* * *

 

The next morning, Andy threw a wet towel at Sam’s head, hoping it would finally do the trick and wake him up. Sam jolted up, his eyes wide with shock. “What the fuck, Andy?” He wasn’t in a good mood and Andy wasn’t much help.

“Mythology class, late, you,” he said as he himself got ready for his American history class.

Sam jumped up and looked at his phone, cursing as he saw what time it was. _11:15._ He was already fifteen minutes late. He threw on the first clean things he found and ran out to try and catch the remainder of his class. He burst through the doors, making a rather loud commotion on his way. The entire class stared silently at him as he took his seat and apologized to Gabriel. The teacher smiled at him and went on with his lesson, which wasn’t without any jokes or smart ass remarks.

It was so hard for both Sam and Gabriel not to look at each other. It seemed as if their eyes were magnetically drawn to each other. Every time they made contact, one of them looked away as quickly as possible. It was obvious to everyone that something was going on, though no one really had any idea what it could be.

When Gabriel was giving back graded papers, his fingers brushed Sam’s. A spark of electricity jolted them both, and Gabriel dropped the papers, scattering them everywhere. The whole thing was too awkward, and Gabriel was praying for the class to be over.

“Does anyone have any questions before we go on with this boring ass class?" Gabriel asked as he sat back down and flipped the page of his textbook. He’d been trying all day to avoid Sam, but there was no avoiding him when he sat right in front of Gabriel’s desk. He tried his best to not look at Sam or at his own name, slightly visible through Sam's misbuttoned shirt. Nothing too obvious, just the last loop of the _M_.

Brady shook Gabriel out of his daze by clearing his throat.

"Yes, Brady? Got a question?" Gabriel asked, delighted to be distracted from Sam for once.

"Yeah, actually. When are you and Sam getting married?" Brady asked with a sneaky, sly smile on his face.

Sam jerked his head towards Brady, hoping he’d misheard the question.

Gabriel swallowed hard. "Excuse me?" he asked. Perhaps if he tried to pretend not to hear the question, Brady would back off.

But the annoying student asked again, "You and Sam, when's the wedding? You _are_ soulmates aren't you?"

Gabriel felt the blood rush from his face as he opened and closed his mouth. But no words would come, his head completely empty and his silver tongue silent for once.

Sam, beet red and wishing the ground would swallow him whole, grabbed his things and rushed out of the class, anger bubbling under the surface. He wanted nothing more than to pound Brady into a puddle of blood, but he knew better than that. He just walked out and went straight to the bathroom, trying to calm himself down and wait for the class to be over so he could go to his next one.

Gabriel had no idea what to say. He couldn't follow Sam - the rumours would never end. And he couldn't punish Brady, since that would raise too many questions.

"Sit down, Brady! Back to the lesson," Gabriel barked, trying to change the subject and the mood of the silent class.

A little less than an hour later, Sam stood outside the classroom, waiting for Becky Rosen to come out so he could grab the notes of what he missed. She claimed to be in love with him and begged constantly to give him notes or tutor him. He usually tried to avoid her, but desperate times...

Brady was one of the first to leave the class, a smug smile on his face. The smile only widened when he saw Sam. "I guess you really are the teacher's pet now," he provoked Sam, not expecting the taller man’s reaction when it came.

Sam dropped his books, threw his bag away, and bolted for Brady, shoving him against a wall and kneeing him in the stomach. Brady fought back, throwing some punches at his opponent and pushing himself away from the wall. He grabbed Sam by the shirt and pushed him against the wall, bringing his knee up hard into Sam’s groin and sending Sam down to the floor.

Gabriel heard the noise outside his classroom and ran out just in time to watch Brady accidentally rip Sam's shirt and reveal the tattoo to everyone who was watching.

Silence fell as the students just stared, gazes drifting between the teacher and the student. Sam stood up, still hunched from the pain in his balls, gathered his things and leaned on Kevin, who had rushed to his aid after exiting his own class. The two students slowly walked away, splitting the crowd as they made their way to the dormitory.

Gabriel stood still for a moment, unsure of what the proper reaction should be; he had a lot to think about. With a glare at Brady, he turned around and walked back into class.

Things just got super complicated for the both of them.

* * *

 

“Gabriel Milton?” Kevin asked, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “Gabriel, a professor? _That_ professor? Really?” he asked again.

Sam was cleaning his wounds, and trying to figure out how to fix his torn shirt. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, Gabriel. Will you get over it already?” He turned around and gave Kevin one of his bitch faces before he looked back into the mirror on the wall of his room. The pain in his groin was still there, pricking him every couple of seconds or whenever he breathed in too deep.

“What happened to ‘no one in this school,’ Mister _I lie to my best friend!_ ” Kevin was feeling a little bitter; he had rushed to tell Sam about his soulmate when he found her. Was it too much that he’d expected Sam to do the same? They both didn’t care all that much about the subject, feeling like studies always come first, but it wouldn’t have distracted them for too long to at least talk about it.

“I just didn’t want people to know, okay? I don’t want _me_ to know! I wish this was all a bad dream,” Sam sighed as he threw the dirty cloth on top of the pile of dirty clothes by his bed. A pillow hit his head and he instantly looked at Kevin. “Ouch! What’d you do that for?” he whined.

“Did it hurt?” Kevin asked with a twinkle in his eyes and a sly smile on his face. Sam just stared. “Then I’m sorry to tell you, it’s not a dream,” Kevin laughingly said, ducking when he saw Sam reaching for the pillow to throw back at him.

“So are you guys…dating?” Kevin was a little disgusted by the idea of Sam and Gabriel together. He couldn’t have imagined a more mismatched couple than those two.

“We’re not! Never!” Sam exclaimed, sitting down on his bed to face Kevin, who had taken advantage of Andy’s absence to his benefit. His voice trailed when he tried to tell his friend the truth. “We did sleep together, though.” He got up and walked to the mini fridge, getting a bottle of water and trying to avoid any eye contact with Kevin.

“Excuse me? Did I just... Did you just... _You slept with him?_ ” Kevin’s voice was loud enough to cause Sam to bolt at him and clap a hand over his mouth.

“Don’t tell the whole school!” he hissed, waiting for Kevin to roll his eyes and nod before removing his hand. He sat on his bed again, sipping at his water slowly, waiting for Kevin to come to terms with the news he had just sprung on him.

“I think I just threw up in my mouth a little,” he said, a disgusted look on his face. It took him a couple of minutes before he asked for the full story, and Sam did not spare any details, which brought the barfing look back on Kevin’s face.

“Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough. So now what? Did you guys just decide not to deal with it?” Kevin was a realistic person and he knew that the soulmate system worked, both from watching other people’s lives and from his own experience. There was no way Sam and Gabriel were right for each other, but if the powers that be thought it so, then it must be the best thing for both men.

“There is no _it_ to deal with! I am not going to date our dick of a teacher! He failed my midterm because I actually want to make good grades! He’s an ass, and I would rather be alone or a reject than be with _him_!” Sam was getting worked up, his tone getting more aggressive and his voice a little louder.

“Okay, alright, relax. Breathe. I’m not saying to date, but I mean you have to talk about it at some point Sam. What if he has feelings for you? Don’t you think he deserves a chance?” The look of utter anger that appeared on Sam’s face made Kevin stutter a bit. “I-I mean, just get to know him. You don’t have to date, but not dealing with it is certainly not the way to go here. Be logical about this.”

Sam’s face was full of disbelief. He couldn’t and wouldn’t even consider such a thing. “Are you kidding me? Tell me you’re kidding, Kevin.” Sam’s strict tone and angry look made Kevin back down and drop the subject, at least for the day.

* * *

 

The next few days did not go by so easily, as neither Sam nor his teacher were spared the ridicule of the entire university students and some of the faculty as well. When word got to Chuck Shurley, the dean of the university, he instantly demanded to see both men with a member of the HR office on Monday.

Sam dragged his feet all the way to the dean’s office, meeting Gabriel halfway and barely even looking at him, except to notice how furious he was. They sat outside the office, waiting for further instructions from the secretary.

Sam’s head was crowded with questions. _“Am I gonna get thrown out? Am I going to lose my scholarship? I can’t not go to Stanford! Wait a minute, am I going to be forced to date him? Has this even happened before? What’s the procedure for such a thing?”_ He was nervous, shuffling his feet and playing with the bracelet on his left arm. He stole a look at his ‘partner in crime’ to notice the man had no more expressions on his face. _“He’s probably loving this, the attention and the problems he’s causing me. Dick!”_ Sam wasn’t willing to cut Gabriel any slack.

He jumped up when the secretary called his name, asking him to go into the dean’s office. When Gabriel stood up as well, he was told the dean needed to see the student on his own first. Sam felt a shot of smugness wash over him, but he was too focused on the worry about his academic future to send a smug grin at Gabriel.

Gabriel smiled at the mean secretary, and sat back down. His head was no less full than Sam’s; he had a lot to worry about. Sleeping with a student didn’t exactly count as good teacher behavior, not even as a decent human being behavior. He was looking at either a serious reprimand, including unpaid leave, or getting fired. He had no idea which was worse. Gabriel loved and enjoyed his job. Mythology was his passion. Though he was teaching it as a complementary course, he’d had his hopes raised to maybe teaching it as a main subject for students of the major someday.

Now, that could all be down the drain. Gabriel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the wait to be called in working at his nerves.

Finally, after a series of invasive questions about Sam’s sexuality, past partners, and what had happened between him and the teacher, Gabriel was called in.

They sat at one side of the desk, like children in a principal’s office, with Mr. Shurley at the other. The HR person, Gabriel remembered her name to be Hannah, sat in a chair next to the window. She had a notepad, a thick file, and a brochure with the header _Work Ethics for Soulmates_ printed across the top. For a second, Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief, thinking if they were offering him the brochure then he was probably not fired.

“Mr. Milton, we talked to Mr. Winchester and he told us all about your _adventure_ together,” Chuck started, censure evident in his tone and his expression.

Gabriel gulped and started sweating again. It appeared to him that he got fucked, literally and figuratively. He opened his mouth to speak, maybe try and justify himself, or beg for mercy, but the dean raised a hand, cutting him off and continuing.

“We have never been more proud of a staff member than we are of you, Mr. Milton. We understand the temptation you faced and the honorable stand you took, refusing Sam the way you did.” Gabriel frowned, confusion on his face. He glanced at Sam and saw the student facing forward, focused on the dean’s words. “Although students and teachers are not usually allowed to fraternize, especially during an active semester, your behavior in the face of this situation has encouraged us to make a groundbreaking decision. Since you two are, in fact, soul mates, we will allow this exception. We believe it will set a precedent for years to come,” Chuck finished, a smile on his face, as he nodded to Hannah so she would start her speech.

Hannah blinked her blue eyes and stood, moving closer to the couple. “The most important rule we’ve decided on is that there are to be no public displays of affection allowed on school campus. Any sign of preference in grades will result in punishment for the both of you. Parents and media must be infor-” Hannah was cut off by Gabriel’s sudden outburst.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Woah! We’re not going to be seeing each other. I mean, it doesn’t matter what the stupid tattoos say, Sam is my student and it just doesn’t feel right. And besides that, there couldn’t be any more of a mistake putting us together. I think the powers that be have been drinking or something,” Gabriel joked, but was cut off by Chuck’s intervention.

“Did you just say that you’re not going to be together?” the dean asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve talked about it and we won’t be going through with this. Right, Sam?” He looked at his student, whose eyes were kind of hazy, and as if he wasn’t all there.

“Winchester?” Gabriel tried to get his attention.

“Oh, yeah definitely. No dating for us, sir.” Sam replied with a fake smile directed at the dean.

“Alright then, if that is your decision, then you are free to go. Just know that any change in this decision would have to be reported to the school administration at once,” Chuck said, feeling disappointed in how the whole thing turned out. He would have appreciated some publicity for his school, for having made a precedent.

Sam and Gabriel got up and exited the office, both a little heavier with more questions than they had going in. After walking for a while, side by side, in silence, Gabriel turned to Sam and stopped him from walking.

“You told them I refused you. Why?” Gabriel was genuinely confused; he thought Sam would have loved nothing more than to get rid of his teacher.

“I just didn’t see a point in losing my scholarship, which I worked really hard on. One mistake shouldn’t take all those years of studying away from me. Just happened that it saved your ass, too,” Sam said wearily.

“Oh,” Gabriel said, a little disappointed in the answer.

Sam flashed a polite smile and walked away, heading straight to the dormitory.

* * *

 

Charlie was sprawled on her bed, her music blasting loud and her head moving around in every direction mimicking the beat. She did not squeal one bit, when Sam just barged in, without knocking.

Nope. Absolutely not.

She did, however, fumble with her phone for a few seconds before finally turning off the loud cacophony of music and turn with wide eyes to stare at Sam. “Um, are you okay?”

Sam’s face was a mixture of hurt and anger and relief. Relief that the administration had bought his lies, anger that Gabriel had almost fucked it up, and hurt because of Gabriel’s adamant refusal of the assumption that they’d be dating.

Honestly, Sam wasn’t sure _why_ he was so hurt over it. That was why he’d come running to Charlie. The redhead was an amazing friend, and one who usually knew Sam’s mind almost better than he did, himself.

“We, uh, we talked to Mr. Shurley,” Sam said, fidgeting in the doorway.

Eyes widening even more, Charlie gestured wildly for Sam to come in and shut the door. “How’d it go?” she asked.

Sam sighed as he sat down at the foot of her bed and leaned against the wall.

"It went...great, Charlie. It went great," Sam said, but the tone of his voice and the defeated slump of his shoulders belied his words.

Charlie frowned, trying to understand the contradiction between Sam's words and his reaction. "Okay, then why do you sound like someone just kicked your puppy?"

Sam sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "He was just so quick to deny that we were or would ever be dating. I guess...it kinda hurt."

Charlie opened her mouth a couple of times and closed it without any words coming out. She wanted to make sure to use the right words, since Sam was a sensitive guy and she would never want to hurt his feelings.

Sam leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes and sighing one more time, which was Charlie's cue to start talking. "Okay, I'm confused, like really confused. Isn't that what you wanted? I mean, didn't you both agree that the universe had made a mistake?"

"It was! I mean, it is. And we did agree about that, I'm just...I don't know." A frustrated noise escaped Sam as he ran his hands over his face and smoothed his hair backwards.

Charlie inched closer to her suffering friend. She smiled down at him and moved her hand to his hair, playing with the brown locks. From past experience, she knew it helped Sam relax. (She'd gotten plenty of practice when he had that exams-induced panic attack.)

"I don't know, Charlie. I just, it really hurt to hear him say it. _'It doesn't matter what the stupid tattoos say.'_ It was just cruel!" Sam exclaimed at the end as if he was just realizing something.

"Sammy, you're my friend and I love you to death, but what the hell is your problem?!" Charlie snapped. She’d had enough of Sam's confusion. She straighten her posture, moving away from Sam and glaring at him.

"What?" Sam blurted, confused. It surprised him to see the redhead so worked up.

"You hate him, you sleep with him. He's your soul mate, you reject him, you want him. Make up your mind!" Charlie was frustrated, partly because of Sam and partly because, though she had been 21 for months, she still had no tattoo. Every day since her birthday, she’d worried that she would never get one - that she would be alone forever.

The idea of someone having a soul mate and not even trying to be with them just seemed ridiculous to her. She had been trying to be understanding and patient with Sam, but this was a little too much for her. Her breath hitched as the worry and fear that had been weighing on her for the past few months came crashing down. Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought valiantly to hold them back.

Sam’s soft spoken words had them falling over the edge to trail down her cheeks. “Charlie? I’m sorry. I’ve been so focused on me that I didn’t think how this would affect you. Come here.” His arms were open wide, and Charlie wasted no time in bouncing across the distance. The redhead buried her face in Sam’s shoulder as the tears broke free in a torrent. Sam whispered into her hair, “I’m so sorry. I’m a selfish asshole, Charlie, and I never stopped to think of you. Please forgive me.”

After a few long minutes of rather therapeutic crying, Charlie sat up and sniffled before sending a watery smile to Sam. “I’m okay. It just hit me all at once there. I’ve been trying not to think about it, but everyone’s finding their soulmates and I’m still just as single and unblemished as ever.”

“Charlie, you’ll find them! Just because you don’t have a tattoo now doesn’t mean you never will. They only appear once both parties are 21. Maybe your soulmate is just a lot younger than you.”

“So I’m going to be a cougar now?” Charlie asked, laughing a bit.

Sam laughed as well. “Maybe so. Charlie Bradbury, cougar on the prowl.”

* * *

 

Gabriel watched Sam stride away for a few long seconds before he turned and headed to his classroom, a frown on his face. The kid was like his bane; it hurt Gabriel just to be close to him. He knew that some of that hurt had to do with bonding hormones that were flaming his insides, but there was more to it. The feeling, the ache he felt, was settling down in his heart, not his groin.

The problem about sleeping with Sam was the fact that the two had bonded without even knowing it. When two soulmates have sex for the first time, a bond is created. That bond is like a magnet that pulls the couple together and, when they are apart, causes them discomfort.

Many people thought it was because the souls of the two individuals had mingled, thereby linking them together. Modern science had discredited that notion, instead pointing out the biological changes within both parties. The mixing of bodily fluids set off a chain reaction in the very cells of soulmates, creating what boiled down to an addiction to each other.

It didn't hurt in the long run as much as in the beginning. The beginning of the bond was the most intense, as the body changed and grew to crave its mate. But after a while you get over it, and it becomes a faraway memory.

While Gabriel felt a small bit of relief in knowing that the obnoxious twitching, aching burn in his gut would subside, he was far more concerned with the ache in his heart.

He got himself to his classroom and sank into his chair, his hand on his chest as if he was clutching his heart. The whole thing was starting to become a bit surreal and somewhat melodramatic. Gabriel was never one for drama - at least not drama he couldn’t watch from afar and laugh at. It was why he rarely visited his family anymore. So to find it here, in his sanctuary? It was just not fair.

He always thought that he’d get his tattoo and the guy would be perfect for him, because that was the whole point of a _soulmate_ tattoo, wasn't it? He was supposed to be paired with someone who shared his sense of humor, maybe even appreciated it, a guy who wasn't so serious and uptight about everything. So why in the hell would the universe put him with Sam freakin' Winchester? And why was he feeling himself slowly falling for him? The man who had rejected him before even thinking about it!

"I need a drink!" Gabriel exclaimed out loud to no one before he got up, grabbed a dry erase marker, and wrote a message on the whiteboard. _Gone for the day, have fun!_ He then gathered his things and headed out, trying his best to avoid any other member of the faculty.

He found his way to The Roadhouse and instantly took a seat at the bar. "Whiskey, double, pronto," he said to the bartender without truly looking at her. If he had, he’d have regretted his barked words.

Ellen turned around, an eyebrow quirked as she slowly approached the downtrodden man. "Not your maid, Gabriel. Now you say please and be polite, or you can get the hell out of my bar," she said with her characteristic sass.

The attitude in her demeanor made him think of Sam and his stubborn refusal of the so-called pity grade, and of his glib denial of their relationship. The hurt that had punched through him during the meeting had surprised Gabriel. He didn’t realize he already felt so strongly about having a soulmate.

A hand waving in front of his face brought Gabriel back from his daydream. He blinked a couple of times before he was able to register Ellen talking to him.

"You alright there? Hey! Gabe!" the bartender snapped her fingers, trying to get the teacher's attention, but a soft voice from behind Gabriel told her to leave him be. Gabriel turned towards the voice and he noticed his younger cousin, Anna.

"What are you doing here? You're not twenty-one yet!" Gabriel said, trying to at least act like a responsible adult.

Anna huffed a laugh, but before she could say anything, Ellen slid a glass tumbler filled with amber-colored liquid over to Gabriel. Anna eyed the whiskey and said absently, "Isn't that what got you in trouble in the first place?"

"Wha-what trouble? What are you talking about?" Gabriel was a shitty liar and he knew it. After a few seconds of trying to look innocently into Anna’s judgmental eyes, he hung his head. “How’d you know?”

"I'm a Beta, Gabriel. We know everything!" Anna said with a smirk, referring to the sorority she’d joined.

"Don't go around spreading this shit! I could get into a lot of trouble! If the dean found out I slept with a student, I'm dead! Especially since we just told him that nothing happened!" Gabriel whispered fervently.

"So it _is_ true! You _did_ sleep with him!!" Anna said excitedly, an evil smile spreading across her face.

Gabriel’s eyes widened as he glanced around hurriedly, making sure no one had heard. He grabbed Anna’s arm and dragged her to a more private table. "Shit! Anna, you could get me fired and him expelled. Don't tell the other girls, please!" Gabriel begged, hating that he was being brought low like this.

"I won't tell...for a price," Anna said, the innocence in her voice at the start of her words turning into persuasion.

"Dammit, Anna. Fine! What do you want?" Gabriel demanded, infuriated at the little monster his cousin was becoming.

"There's a guy named Brady in your mythology class. I need him tortured," she said simply, holding out her hand to inspect her nails.

“As much as I would love to torture that dick, I could get _fired_ , Anna,” Gabriel said as he turned around to look at his little cousin. He was tempted, _really_ tempted, but there was no way in hell he could risk himself getting fired - not after today’s close call.

“Yes, you _could_ get fired, but if little scared me happened to talk about this to the wrong person, like maybe,” she paused dramatically, her finger to her chin, before continuing, “my house mother. And she just _happened_ to go to the dean, purely out of concern for the Winchester boy, then you definitely _will_ get fired.” Anna’s dark smile made nearly unrecognizable as the little girl Gabriel used to take to the park and who liked unicorns and wanted to help the world one day.

He huffed a defeated laugh and shook his head a little. “Fine. What do you want me to do to him?”

“That’s a good boy,” Anna cooed. “I need him to think he’s going crazy, that he might be seeing and hearing things,” she explained nonchalantly, as if expecting Gabriel to know exactly what to do.

When he simply stared at her blankly, she huffed and scooted closer as she laid out the inner workings of a devious mind.

Anna took her time explaining her devilish plan, and Gabriel wished at some point he had a notepad to write everything down. He was known as the master of tricks in their family, always playing pranks. Everyone had always said that Anna was cut from the same cloth, but Gabriel doubted he could have ever came up with such an evil plan. Not like this, not something so cruel.

As he listened to Anna’s detailed directions on how to ruin Brady’s life, Gabriel made a vow to himself.

One way or another, he was going to get Anna away from the evil bitches who had changed her from his sweet little cousin into this devious monster.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam was finding it harder and harder to focus on anything that did not involve Gabriel. He daydreamed himself through his classes, fantasized instead of studying, and had wet dreams instead of his nightly nightmares. He would catch himself staring into space and thinking of Gabriel’s eyes, or wake up and find front of his pajama pants soaked with cum after a hot dream about his professor. Eventually it got the point where Sam couldn’t separate dreams from reality, his memories of the night spent with Gabriel supplanted with the fantasies that had taken hold of him ever since.

He would stay up late, tossing and turning in his bed, unable to sleep from thinking of his teacher. Invariably, he’d run late for the next morning’s classes due to hitting snooze one too many times.  More than once, he had to relieve himself in the bathroom after an awkward boner caused by a random flashback or a sexy impromptu fantasy in class.

The ache in his gut wasn’t helping at all. He had talked to the nurse, and she had reassured him it would go away after a while. The only problem was that it wasn’t going anywhere! It had been a couple of weeks since that fateful night, and Sam could still feel that magnetic force pulling him towards Gabriel.

Despite his late nights and inevitable late mornings, he always managed to be on time on Wednesdays, when he had his mythology class. Always front and center, helplessly staring at Gabriel’s ass when he wrote on the board, or studying his various expressions when he talked. All of a sudden, crappy professor Milton had become fascinating and interesting, even arousing. As much as Sam hated to admit it, he was growing to _like_ the man.

Gabriel himself wasn’t doing any better. He would drink himself to sleep most nights, just to keep from having his recurring dream - the life he could have had with Sam. An off-campus house, a dog or two, maybe even a kid later on. But, he would remind himself bitterly when that fantasy would creep back in, Sam had turned his back on that. In a sense, so had Gabriel, but not so vehemently.

Gabriel wanted so badly to hate Sam, but it seemed impossible. Whatever anger he had mustered always flew out the window come Wednesday morning, walking through the door to see Sam’s floppy hair and soulful hazel eyes.

The fact that he could practically _feel_ the kiddo’s eyes boring holes into his pants did not help the random boners that seemed to have come back for a visit. _Fuck_ , Gabriel had always hated that part of puberty. And now, here it was again, at almost thirty years old.

In the two weeks since the meeting with Chuck, Gabriel felt like he had lost what little sanity he’d had going for him. The burning ache in his gut had only gotten worse. Most days, it was a struggle to keep down whatever measly amount of food he managed to eat. On the weekends, he did absolutely nothing but lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

The days that he had class were becoming harder and harder to get through. It was a struggle to summon the motivation to shower and dress for the day. Shaving took a backseat to the simple task of brushing his teeth. He was slowly becoming more and more unkempt, and forgetting things that he had promised.

Like his vow to Anna to drive Brady to mental ruin. Sure, he had started out well enough, keeping to the plan to make Brady think he was going crazy. But the more time went on, the worse Gabriel’s own mental state devolved into a jumbled mess that could barely focus enough to teach his classes, let alone fuck with someone’s head.

His own was enough of a wasteland.

Everything came to a head one Wednesday in mid-April. When his alarm went off that early morning, Gabriel simply could not muster the energy to get up. He canceled his alarm and flopped back onto his pillow, throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the light. Despite his apathy, he couldn’t fall back asleep. The harrowed man simply burrowed into his covers and stared blankly at the ceiling as the thoughts of his worthlessness washed over him.

 _“Nobody even cares. I could lay here and waste away and no one would miss me. My own family doesn’t care about me. My_ soulmate _couldn’t care less about me.”_ The last thought had a spark of emotion flaring up inside the teacher. Pain speared through his heart, bringing tears to his eyes. As if a dam had broken, all the hurt from the last several weeks came pouring out, leaving him deaf to anything but his own sobs.

* * *

 

Sam woke up, as usual, in plenty of time to get to his mythology class. He couldn’t figure out why his body never protested the early mornings on Wednesdays, but he wasn’t going to complain. His day started out like always, with a quick shower, nutritious (well, as much as cafeteria food could be called _nutritious_ ), and a decent walk across campus to Gabriel’s classroom in the Arts building.

The only problem was that Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Most mornings, Gabriel beat everyone to the room, though he’d been getting to class later and later the past few weeks. As Sam settled into his desk, he glanced at the door every time it opened.

Ten minutes into the class period, whispers began floating around.

_“It’s ten minutes, right? Before we can leave?”_

_“No, moron, it’s fifteen. Twenty for tenure.”_

_“Whatever. He’s usually here by now, isn’t he? So I say he’s not gonna show at all.”_

Sam felt a trickle of unease worm its way into his stomach. When twenty minutes had passed and everyone had all but cleared out, Sam frowned and tried to push the worry away. Surely Gabriel was just having an off day.

But when Sam returned to his dorm and checked his email, there was no notice of a new message. Usually, when a professor was going to miss class, they’d message the students to let them know. The lack of such a message from Gabriel had the worry from earlier coming back full-force.

The more Sam thought about it, about how haggard Gabriel had looked the past few class days, how melancholy he seemed during his normally-enthusiastic lectures, the more the unease gnawed at him. Finally, Sam had had enough. He stood from his little desk and pulled on a worn hoodie and his tennis shoes. As he left the room, he met Kevin in the hall.

“Hey, where are you going? We have math in like twenty minutes!” Kevin called to him.

“I gotta go check on something!” Sam replied, halfway down the hall.

Kevin rolled his eyes, sure that it was something to do with Gabriel. Whether Sam wanted to admit it or not, he was rather obsessed with the teacher. With a sigh, he let it go, knowing that Sam would most likely be missing their class. Like a good friend, he vowed to take good enough notes to pass on to the other student.

Sam hurried down the front steps of the dorm, pulling his hood up to ward off the chill in the air. It took nearly ten minutes to reach Gabriel’s off-campus apartment, and another few minutes to get someone to buzz him inside.

At the door to Gabriel’s apartment, he knocked loudly. When no answer came, he knocked again, even louder. Finally, he tried the doorknob, alarmed to find it unlocked. “Gabriel?” he called out as he ducked into the room. Stepping fully into Gabriel’s living room, he shut the door and called out again. A weak groan from the bedroom had his heart thundering into overdrive. “Gabe?!” His footsteps thundering through the apartment, Sam hurried to the bedroom.

Gabriel blinked through his tears, thinking he was hearing someone at the door, but the sound went away after a moment. Fresh tears welled in his eyes. Of course. Nobody cared. When he heard someone open the front door and call out his name, he groaned, thinking it was his annoying but well-meaning neighbor, Amelia. Sam’s voice echoing through his home had him sitting up in bed as panic filled him.

Sam couldn’t see him like this!

Gabriel hurried to scrub at his face, trying to clean away the tear tracks on his cheeks. As he was trying to straighten his hair into a semblance of order, he stopped. Why the fuck should he be trying to look nice for Sam? This whole mess was Sam’s fault!

And so Sam, in a panic and expecting the worst, burst into Gabriel’s room to come face-to-face with his former lover’s glaring face. “Gabe?”

Gabriel’s glare became even colder. “I don’t think you have the right to call me that. In fact, I don’t think you have a right to even be here.”

Sam swallowed. “I was worried about you,” he whispered.

Gabriel scoffed. “Yeah, I bet. Well, Mister Winchester, I suggest you send an email like any other student would. After all, that’s all we are, isn’t it? Teacher and student?”

Sam flinched.

“Don’t pretend like you give a shit, kiddo. We both know you don’t. You made damn sure everyone knew we were nothing that day in Chuck’s office. So turn your pretty little tail around and go right on back to your dorm.”

“Why are you being such a dick? I’m trying to be nice!” Sam bit out.

“Oh, nice? Like when you lied to the dean about us sleeping together? Oh, wait, that was for your own benefit. Please. You’re only nice when it suits your own interests. You should go hit up that chick Ruby. You guys seem like you’d make a great couple,” Gabriel spat, a tinge bitterly. “You’re both heartless, so no worries about getting hurt.”

With a grunt of disgust, Gabriel threw back the covers. The whole exchange had fired him up like he hadn’t felt in a long time. Clad in only his boxers, he stood and made his way to the bathroom, ignoring Sam completely.

“Gabriel, please-” Sam began, but Gabriel cut him off.

“Please, what? What the fuck do you want from me, Winchester? You can’t just keep ducking in and out of my life, expecting things to go your way every time. I’m nearly thirty years old, and I am too damn old for this juvenile _bullshit_. You’ve got a lot of growing up to do before you’re ready to be someone’s mate, kid.”

Gabriel took a few more steps before he turned back to face Sam. “This isn’t Kansas, kid. This is the real world, and it does not revolve around _you_. We may be soulmates, but I’m beginning to see that you were right to walk away. We would never work out, anyways, you selfish, arrogant, _asshole_. Now get the fuck out of my home.”

The bathroom door slammed behind Gabriel, leaving Sam in shock. The sound of the shower knobs squeaking and water rumbling through the pipes left no doubt as to what he was doing. Sam sat heavily on the end of the bed and put his head in his hands.

 _Fuck_. Gabriel was right. It pained him so much to say it, to admit that everything the other man had said was true. He had expected Gabriel to just accept him coming over, like nothing had happened. He was being selfish by putting Gabriel through all this. Heat pricked at Sam’s eyes, but he refused to cry. He didn’t deserve the tears. He would leave, and he would leave Gabriel in peace. It was the least he could do after all he had put the teacher through.

Just as he was standing to leave, the bathroom door opened, letting out steam and a dripping, towel-clad Gabriel. He froze halfway to the door, looking at the wet man in front of him. Gabriel had an unamused look on his face, which Sam translated it as him not being so happy to see that the selfish asshole was still there.

“Don’t worry, I was just leaving,” Sam said before he turned his back to walk away. His shoulders felt heavy with the weight that Gabriel had thrown at him just a few minutes prior. He was almost out of the bedroom door when he heard Gabriel’s snarky reply.

“Goodbye, and fuck you very much,” the shorter man said, mostly under his breath.

It was enough to stop him in his tracks. “Excuse me?” Sam asked, offended that Gabriel would kick him while he was down.

“Oh, you are very much excused. Now run along and find another poor soul to fuck over,” Gabriel all but snarled, obviously not over his anger. He raised an eyebrow at Sam, not expecting the reaction that came out of the student.

In a move so quick that Gabriel barely saw it coming, Sam bolted towards him and pushed him against the door of the bathroom, pinning him there. His hazel eyes were full of fire, anger bubbling just a little closer to the surface. He let one hand slip from Gabriel’s shoulder to his throat and he squeezed just a little, enough to make a point. “I think that’s just about enough,” he growled, looking straight into Gabriel’s panicked eyes.

The teacher was indeed panicking. He had the horrifying thought that Sam was going to kill him. With the muscles rippling across the younger man’s shoulders and down his arms, he could probably snap Gabriel’s neck with very little effort. The hand holding a precarious grip on his towel twitched, sending the towel to the floor. When Sam’s grip tightened just a bit more, both of Gabriel’s hands flew to Sam’s wrist, trying to pull the large hand away from his throat so he could catch his breath.

Sam’s hand was steady as a rock, the way a killer’s hand would be. He tightened his grip when Gabriel tried to move it, pushing his entire body against Gabriel’s to corner him in and stop him from moving.

When Gabriel suddenly grew hard - harder than he could remember being in his adult life - both men's faces showed twin expressions of shock. The length of it was pressed insistently into Sam’s leg, and he swore could feel the warmth of it through the material of his sweatpants. The taller man swallowed hard, looking down at the hard member pressing against his thigh, before his eyes trailed up the bare body beneath his to meet with Gabriel’s golden gaze. Without loosening his grip on the other man’s neck, he darted in for a savage, sloppy kiss - one which Gabriel was more than happy to reciprocate.

His hands slipped away from Sam’s wrist and went straight to the kid’s hair, tugging at it as the kiss deepened and became more of a violent act than a passionate one. Gabriel moaned into the kiss, and Sam took the opportunity to slip his tongue between his parted lips, relishing the taste of his soulmate.

The student pulled Gabriel away from the door, only to slam him back against it, his head making an awful sound. Sam pressed his body harder against the other man’s and tightened his fingers around Gabriel’s neck. As he kissed him, his tongue making broad sweeps of Gabriel’s mouth, Gabriel grunted and pushed the intruding tongue out before darting up biting at Sam’s lips, hard enough to draw specks of blood.

Sam jumped back. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. A moment later, he smiled with dark excitement and bloody lips before moving forward to grip at Gabriel and shove him against the door once more. He let go of the shorter man's neck only to hold him down by his shoulders. He kissed Gabriel again, but this time he quickly moved on to suck at the tender skin of his neck, intending to leave marks everywhere. When that wasn't enough, he bit down on the junction between Gabriel's shoulder and neck, pulling moans from him until the other man pushed him forcefully off in a show of domination.

Gabriel was panting, looking at Sam as if sizing him before he pushed him again. Closer to the bed than Sam realized, the next thing he knew, he was on his back on the flat surface, staring up at his teacher with eyes blown wide with lust.

"You thought you'd fuck me? No, kid, _I_ fuck _you,_ " Gabriel said in a dark tone that had shivers running up and down Sam's spine.

"Yeah? Well, how about you be a man of your word and come fuck me?" Sam dared, barely able to drag his gaze from Gabriel’s eyes to get a good look at his rock-hard cock.

"I'm gonna fuck you so good, you won't walk for days," Gabriel said before he reached up and yanked down Sam's pants.

He took one look at the kid's rather large erection, still trapped in Sam’s underwear, and felt his mouth water. Slowly, wanting to tease the other man, he painstakingly inched the underwear down Sam’s hips. Once the hardened flesh was free, he reached for the length and fisted it as gently as possible, teasing Sam with the barely-there touch. He licked his lips and smiled, not realizing how sexy he looked. He tilted his head to look at it from every direction before he finally bent forward and slowly let his tongue slick a trail from Sam’s balls all the way up to the tip of his dick.

Sam shuddered at the sensation. Wanting more, he grabbed Gabriel's head and pushed him down as he bucked up. Gabriel smiled and pushed him back down, instead slowly teasing him, licking at his thighs, nibbling at them and leaving bite marks at random intervals. The noises coming out of the kid's mouth were loud, to say the least. Moaning, grunting, begging noises that Sam had never expected would come out of his own mouth.

It only made Gabriel want to tease him worse, just to hear those heavenly moans again. And, possibly, because it felt like some sort of revenge was being served. He moved his mouth to Sam's hips, licking at the spot where the younger man was ticklish the most, making him squirm under his teacher's body. He tried to push Gabriel away, but the latter straightened up and took Sam's arms and pinned them above his head, while stretching his body against his student's.

Both men gasped as their bodies finally met with nothing between them. Their dicks rubbed against each other, skin on skin, precum mixed with sweat, a slick slide as Gabriel bit marks into Sam's chest, around his nipple, and anywhere else he could reach.

" _Ffffuck,_ Gabe!" Sam exclaimed, his dick throbbing so hard it felt like it was about to burst.

"That's _Mr. Milton_ to you, _Mr. Winchester,"_ Gabriel said against Sam's skin. When Sam gasped at the forceful way he spoke, Gabriel grinned and went back to nipping at whatever sensitive spots he could reach. When the need for _more_ became overwhelming, Gabriel reared back and fumbled in his side table for a bottle of lube. Sam’s hand snaked down to work at his own cock while Gabriel hurriedly warmed the slick liquid between his palms.

“Fuck, I don’t care if it’s cold. I need it, Ga- Mr. Milton. _Please!”_ Sam begged, his head thrashing on the mattress below him.

Gabriel shoved Sam’s thighs further apart, loving the hitch in the younger man’s breath as he did so. With deft fingers, he uncapped the small bottle and drizzled the cool lube onto Sam’s ass, working it into the heated skin and around the entrance he was desperate to get inside.

Sam moaned at the cold touch of liquid, but he jerked his hips into Gabriel’s touch, needing more, needing him _inside_ , now. The hand on his dick slowed, savoring the easy slide while he focused on Gabriel’s fingers. Different from his own long digits, Gabriel’s fingers were shorter and wider. As they edged closer and closer to Sam’s entrance, he jerked his hips to help them along. “Fucking hell. Just fuck me already! Or are you too _old_ to get it done?” Sam grated, trying to egg Gabriel on. He cried out moments later when Gabriel’s fingers finally, _finally_ , slid inside.

“Impatient. Little. Fucker,” Gabriel groaned, every word punctuated with the slide of his fingers in and out of Sam’s body.

Sam moaned loudly and gripped the sheets under him tightly. The burn of being so suddenly, overwhelmingly filled was incredible, but Sam wanted, _needed_ , more. His body was on fire for Gabriel, craving the sweet satisfaction of being filled by his lover. Beyond words now, Sam could only moan as he jerked his hips into Gabriel’s fingers, tightening around them on every pass.

As he watched his fingers slide in and out of Sam, Gabriel had to grip the base of his dick with his other hand. The sight of Sam, laid out for his pleasure and mindless with want and need, had him edging close to release. When he felt like he could move without suddenly coming, he drew his fingers slowly from Sam’s slick hole and lined himself up. Sam was babbling, reaching with those long arms to grasp at Gabriel’s hips and draw him closer.

He teased Sam for a moment, watching the rim of his puffy, needy hole flutter after every pass of the head of his dick before finally pressing against it in earnest. The heat and tightness of Sam had Gabriel gasping for breath with barely the head inside. Sam, mindless with need, bucked his hips up in search of more. Gabriel cried out and gripped Sam’s hips to hold him still, seconds from coming early like a teenager. It took him a few long seconds of stillness to be able to hold back his release, while Sam ached with want.

“Please, Gabe. Mr. Milton. I need all of you inside of me,” Sam begged, hips writhing in a desperate attempt to work more of the other man's thick length inside him. His hands slid down Gabriel's body to grasp at his hips, trying to pull him closer.

Gabriel sacrificed his hold on Sam's hips to grip the taller man's wrists, pulling both arms away from his own hips and above their heads. “Give me a second here, kiddo. You’re too hot!” Gabriel mumbled, exasperated and trying to catch his breath.

Sam moaned loudly, the sudden action made his dick throb even harder than before, filling him with chills and excitement. He tried to regulate his breathing, afraid of coming untouched without getting to the good part. Gabriel’s show of dominance and strength was possibly the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

Gabriel took a deep breath before finally pushing all the way inside Sam, letting out a low groan of satisfaction. “Jesus, kid! You’re so tight!” he groaned, head dipping down to rest on Sam's chest as he began to slowly drag his hips back.

“Gab-Mr. Milton. Please fuck me, I-I can’t wait any longer,” Sam pleaded, his body unable to take all the torture his teacher was practicing on him. He tried to wiggle his hands away from Gabriel’s tight grip, but it only made the older man squeeze at him harder as he drove his hips forward once more, inching even deeper inside and jabbing at Sam's prostate.

“ _Ahhhhh,_ dammit,” the younger man cried out.

Gabriel smiled deviously at his soulmate's reaction. He transferred his hold on Sam's wrists to one hand and braced himself against the bed with his free hand in order to deepen his thrusts, setting a harsh pace. It took him a few seconds to pinpoint the exact location of Sam’s prostate, and from that point on he was hitting it with every thrust, making Sam shudder, groan, moan and make the sexiest noises Gabriel had ever heard.

Sam was unraveling under Gabriel’s weight. He felt the ache in his gut leave him for the first time in over a month as he took in the full length of his partner - and what a length it was! Gabriel was well endowed and had an almost intimidating girth.

Gabriel moaned as Sam tightened around him, squeezing his length and jolting him that much closer to his release. Desperate to not be the only one, he let go of Sam's wrists and instead gripped his cock, quickly working it to bring Sam over as well.

“ _Fuck,_ Gabriel! I’m close, really close,” Sam announced, mere seconds before he spilled his seed all over Gabriel’s hand.

“Oh, _shit,”_ Gabriel whispered as the sight of Sam’s face sent a shiver down his spine. There was no warning, no stopping his release after that. A moan bubbled past his lips as his hips jerked and buried himself as deeply inside Sam as he could go. A moment later, he spilled his seed into his soulmate, still thrusting, riding his orgasm to the fullest.

Breathing hard, both men held tightly to each other, hands roaming as they came down for their highs. Gabriel kissed Sam softly on the lips as he pulled himself out of the kid’s body and crumbled next to him, a complete heaving mess.

Sam smiled and took in a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of warm cum dripping down from his ass and onto his thighs. He bit his lip and turned his head to watch the breathless older man as he clutched his chest, trying to ease the quick beats of his heart.

“Shit,” he blurted out, the only word he could find to express how amazing it had been. When Gabriel smiled back, Sam moved closer and, without asking for permission, snuggled against his teacher. Gabriel was shocked at the beginning but soon pulled him even closer, kissing the top of his head and resting it on his own chest.

The two men stayed silent for a while, Gabriel caressing Sam’s hair and the latter tracing random patterns on his lover’s abdomen and chest, before they both drifted into a deep sleep – something they had been deprived of for months now.

* * *

 

Sam dreamed. In the abstract way that he knew it was a dream, but he couldn’t make himself wake up, he dreamt of his future with Gabriel. Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, doomed to repeat the same day over and over. Wake up, cook breakfast, wave Gabriel off to work. Bundle the kids off to school, then clean house all day. No law office, no friends, nothing but Gabriel and two screaming kids, day in and day out. In the last run-through of the hellish dream, Sam trudged to their bedroom to sleep - only to find Gabriel in the arms of-

_“Balthazar!”_

Sam jolted out of his sleep, gasping for breath, unsure of why he was in such a state. He sat up, trying to push down the nausea that washed over him in waves. He looked around, panic in his eyes, panting and sweating heavily. When he looked down next to him, there was Gabriel, naked and a soft satisfied smile on his face. Sam remembered his dream in a flash, as if a lightning bolt went through him. He whimpered softly as panic surged through him once more, bringing the nausea with it. For a moment, he thought he would win the battle with his body, but nope - it was happening.

Already gagging, Sam looked around frantically for something close by to empty his guts into. There! By the bed, a small trashcan sat in all its plastic glory. Sam bolted to it, landing on his knees on the cold floor as what little food he’d been able to take in the day before made its gross reappearance.

Gabriel woke to the sounds of retching and Sam’s pitiful sounds of distress. He looked around in confusion until he saw Sam’s hunched form on the other side of the bed. The older man was by his side a moment later, pulling his hair back with one hand and rubbing soothing circles on his naked back with the other.

After the younger man had finished emptying his belly, Gabriel tried to pull him back into bed, intending to do whatever he could to make Sam feel better.

Sam weakly pulled away from Gabriel’s hands, shaking his head. He had to get out of here, had to _think_ about things. If nothing else, that dream - the parts that actually made sense - had shown him that this was not how he wanted his life to go. Barely more than a glorified maid, made to give up his dreams to stay home and care for kids he didn’t know if he even wanted and cleaning up a house he would never have picked for himself.

Gabriel frowned and reached once more for Sam. “Come on, kiddo. Get up here and lay down for a minute.”

Sam, having worked himself into quite the freakout, slapped Gabriel’s hands away and scooted backwards. “I can’t do this, I can’t live like that. I have a _plan_ and _ambitions_.”

“Uh, nobody said you didn’t. Geez, Sam, what the fuck is wrong?” Gabriel asked. Confusion colored his tone, as well as a bit of anger. Why would Sam think he’d try to stomp on his dreams?

“I can’t do this!” Sam yelled, finally getting his feet under him. In a flurry of long limbs and awkward nakedness, he gathered his clothes and began yanking them on. “This was a mistake, I shouldn’t have come over here. Should have just emailed you like you said. Fuck. I’m so _stupid_ ,” Sam babbled, mostly to himself. Tears stung his eyes as he tried to get dressed as quickly as possible.

“Excuse me?” Gabriel asked quietly, bewildered and growing angrier by the second. He felt himself bracing for the inevitable hurt, his heart hurriedly throwing up walls in an attempt at self-preservation.

“I can’t do this forever, Gabriel! I can’t give up my dreams just to be with you! I won’t do it!” Sam cried. His voice cracking, Sam blurted the only thing that made sense of all this. “I can’t be your soulmate. There’s some mistake. It’s not me - I’m not your soulmate.”

Gabriel felt his world shatter all over again. Once was bad enough, but to be rejected _twice?_ By his fucking _soulmate?_ (No matter what Sam said, Gabriel knew in his heart that they truly were mates.) How could Sam be so cruel? An eerie sense of calm washed over him. He felt himself shift from Gabriel to what his family used to call _Loki_. When Gabriel shut himself off behind walls of biting remarks meant to wound and cruel jokes meant to humiliate.

“Gee, kiddo. I’m not sure I ever said forever. I mean, damn. You’re a nice lay, but not _that_ good. Definitely not someone I’d want to be with forever,” he drawled lazily. “Who wants to be stuck with a whiny kid who can’t even pass a stoner class? Glad you could remove that stick from your ass long enough to fuck, but honestly? That’s all it was. That’s all _you_ were. A good fuck.”

Sam froze, feeling himself shrink as Gabriel spoke. When the older man was done speaking, Sam flinched. The tears he’d been pushing back so far threatened to fall, but Sam desperately blinked them back.

Gabriel snorted. “Fucking pathetic. Go home, boy, and cry to your dead mommy. I have better things to do than babysit you.” Turning to head to the bathroom, he paused at the doorway. “Or, rather, better _people_.” The door slammed behind Gabriel, reminiscent of the night before.

Unlike then, Sam scrambled to leave as quickly as possible. As soon as his limbs felt mobile again, the student snatched the rest of clothes on, yanked his shoes on his feet, and bolted for the door. Finally free of Sam’s willpower, tears flowed down his cheeks. He’d done so well to hold them back until the mommy comment. Not many people knew that Sam’s mother had died when he was a baby; it wasn’t something he liked to broadcast. Gabriel _knew_ that, though. It had been a turning point in their conversation that night at the bar.

As he fairly flew from Gabriel’s apartment, Sam stumbled on his untied shoelaces. On the landing between floors, he sat and buried his head in his arms, letting free the full force of his hurt. A moment later, a cold nose pressed into his hair, grazing his neck and making him jump. Looking up, he saw a beautiful Australian Shepherd staring at him with soulful dark eyes. The dog whined and nudged him with its head, wagging its tail.

“Riot, leave the man alone. Come on, boy.”

Sam looked up, noticing for the first time that the dog was on a leash.

His owner, a rather pretty woman with dark curly hair, smiled at Sam. “Sorry, he gets excited with new people. I’m Amelia.” Noticing the tears on Sam’s face, the woman stepped forward. “Hey, are you okay?”

Sam forced a smile - not hard to do with Riot still snuffling at him and begging for attention. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a fight with my - with my teacher. Oh, and I’m Sam.”

Amelia made a face. “Gabriel Milton, huh? He’s a piece of work, that one. Always blaring his music obnoxiously loud on weekends. I think it’s to cover up the sounds of his evil rituals, ones to curse his students to fail. Well,” she said a bit more seriously, “that, or the loud sex he has with the men I see coming and going from his apartment all the time. I tell you, all the hot ones are gay. It’s not fair.”

Sam winced, but covered it up quickly by burying his face in Riot’s fur.

Amelia noticed anyways. “Ooohhh. Well, darn. You’re pretty cute, too. Anybody that Riot takes such a shine to can’t be that bad.”

“It’s not… It’s not like that. I was just-”

“Sweetie, I’m not blind. Nobody fights with their teacher like that, enough to cry, unless there’s more to it. Don’t you worry. One day, he’ll get his. I have very high hopes that his soulmate will come along and put him through the ringer for all the hearts he’s crushed.”

Sam grimaced. “I don’t know about that. I think it’s the other way around.”

“Oh, yeah?” Amelia said. “Why’s that?”

Tugging the neck of his hoodie down, Sam showed Amelia the tattoo of Gabriel’s name. “Personal experience.”

“Oh, damn. I’m so sorry,” the woman said, her voice full of compassion. A moment later, she plopped onto the stairs beside Sam and patted his knee. “Well, you can always come by my place if you need some company. I may not be your soulmate, but I make a mean peach cobbler. And Riot here seems to like you enough to allow some visitations.”

Sam laughed as Riot perked up at his name, tail wagging enough to throw his butt back and forth. “Thanks, Amelia, but I don’t really want to come back around here. It was a mistake this time - I should have known things wouldn’t go well.”

“Sam, you can’t let him dictate your life. If you want to come over to a friend’s place to have peach cobbler and cuddle with an attention whore of a dog, why not? What could go wrong?”

 _“Famous last words,”_ Sam thought. A moment later he sighed. “Yeah, I guess. Okay, I’ll come over one day. This weekend okay? I have class all week.”

“Saturday, four o’clock. We can watch the new Pitch Perfect,” Amelia said with a smile.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Sam’s phone chirped with a text.

**_Charlie: Sam! I need to talk to you ASAP!!!_ **

Always paranoid about his friends’ safety, Sam quickly said goodbye to Amelia and jogged back to campus, texting Charlie as he ran. Finally, out of breath and sweating from the exertion, Sam arrived at his dorm. Charlie had agreed to meet him there since it was easier for girls to get into the guys’ dorm than vice versa.

Opening the door, Sam took in Charlie, wearing a hole in the middle of the room with her pacing, and Andy, sitting on his bed and staring concernedly at Charlie.

“What’s the matter, Charlie?” Sam asked breathlessly.

The redhead whirled around and thrust her arm out at Sam. “Look!”

Sam blinked for a moment before Charlie’s words made sense. A black tattoo with swooping curls and crisp lines was scrawled on her arm. She’d finally gotten her soulmate tattoo.

And it read _Anna Milton._

_ _


	5. Chapter 5

Sam stared. Charlie finally drew her arm away, tucking it back into her stomach as if to hide the words.

“Sam, what am I going to do? Those hateful bitches at Beta Kappa Nu will never let her be with me. I’m just some dork who hacked their sprinkler system once,” the redhead said bitterly.

Sam glanced to Andy, but the other guy was no help. He shook his head fervently; he had no experience with upset girls. He didn’t particularly want to start now.

With a sigh, Sam stepped closer to Charlie and gently grasped her shoulders. “Charlie, the first thing you need to do is calm down. We can’t do anything with you trying to pace a hole in the floor.”

Nervous laughter bubbled from Charlie’s lips. She allowed Sam to guide her to his bed and plopped down on the soft surface. “But Sam, how can this work out? What could possibly fix this?”

“Well,” Sam began, “she is the cousin of my teacher.” He sent a sidelong glance at Andy, hoping Charlie understood that Sam’s roommate was _not_ aware of the teacher being Sam’s soulmate.

Charlie nodded to show her understanding. “Do you think he’d be willing to help? Sam, we _have_ to get her from them. You don’t know how much she’s changed.”

Sam hummed. “So tell me. I don’t really know much about her except for what I’ve heard around campus.”

“Well, she started out as this cute, shy freshman. She’s so smart, too. She graduated high school a year early, so she was younger than the other freshmen who were in my group,” Charlie said, talking about the college’s program to help new students acclimate to their new home.

“I’m so glad I didn’t sign up for that,” Andy piped up. “Some noob, calling you all the time and acting like you’re best friends because you showed them where the cafeteria is _one time_.”

Sam and Charlie shared a look and burst out laughing.

Their laughter trailed off as Charlie’s face fell into worry again. Sam turned to her and put both hands on her shoulders, squeezing her tight. “We’ll figure this out, Charlie. I promise.”

The redhead smiled, trying hard to believe her friend. It worked for about five seconds before she cracked again. “But _how?_ ” she asked in a whiny tone, which made Sam smile big.

“The same way you do everything; we make a plan,” he simply said, reaching for the notebook resting on his nightstand.

“Now you’re talking, big guy!” Charlie’s frown turned into a small grin as her head started buzzing with ideas. “We need to save her from those evil bitches. We have to,” she finished, taking the notebook away from Sam. While her friend fumbled for a pen in his drawer, Charlie was thinking of ways to save her soul mate. As soon as a pen was available, she snatched it away and started writing down any idea that popped in her head.

“This might work,” she finally said after writing in silence for a few minutes.

Sam took a look at her plan and thought on it for a while. “Yeah, I think it might.”

Charlie smiled, feeling some relief now that they might have a chance at saving Anna.

* * *

 

Before meeting Ruby and becoming a Beta Kappa Nu, Anna Milton was one of the sweetest girls you could ever know. Back in high school, she was a mathlete, skipped a grade because she was so smart, and was one of the most popular girls around. Everyone wanted to be her friend and, in a way, they all were. She was nice to everyone; from jocks to nerds to outcasts, she befriended them all.

When she was a kid, Gabriel was her favourite cousin, and they hung out all the time, despite the major age gap. She had great parents who loved her to death and an older brother who would do anything in the world to keep her happy and safe.

Anna and Castiel had only a year between them, so the two were very close. They did almost everything together, from playing in the sand box to partying and sneaking in weed and beer. Cas loved his sister and, with their parents working so much to be able to afford a decent life for their children, he took over raising her. In truth, they practically raised each other - being only a year apart didn’t make much difference in terms of maturity.

When Cas went to college, Anna cried for weeks, she missed him so much. The blue eyed man cried himself to sleep for days, but that was never to her knowledge.

When Anna had the chance to skip a grade and go straight to college, Castiel could not have been more proud of his baby sister. She was always a genius, helping him with his homework instead of the other way around. He always said to anyone who would listen, _“This girl has potential.”_

Castiel, having attended Clark State Community College his freshman year, knew all about Beta Kappa Nu. When he heard his sister was being approached by them, he reacted badly. It was a tragic falling out between the two siblings, with Castiel trying to explain how awful these girls were and Anna yelling that Cas wasn’t her father. In the end, Castiel told Anna that he would be no part of the situation, and to call him if she ever came to her senses.

Anna, being the stubborn girl she had always been, hung up on her brother and within ten minutes was telling Ruby how excited she was to join their house.

After that, radio silence fell between the two. Castiel never texted his sister, and she never thought of talking to him. Both were left thinking it was the other one’s choice and desire.

Castiel blamed himself for not being firm enough in warning his sister about that particular group, but in his defense, he had been taken aback by her desire to even join them. Sweet Anna, joining a group of psychopaths and _femme fatales_?

In reality, Anna hadn’t made her mind up about BKN before her brother’s reaction provoked her into joining. It took the evil ones merely a month before they converted the innocence that Anna embodied into the weapon she was now. She’d been heartbroken over her fight with Cas, vulnerable for being in a new place, for being much younger than everyone else, and all she really wanted was to fit in. The Betas took absolute advantage of those facts.

Fast forward to the day after Charlie discovered her tattoo.

On that sunny day, Anna Milton was walking home from her classes when a wild Charlie Bradbury appeared. The redhead tapped her on the shoulder and waited for her soul mate to turn around. When she did turn, the smile on her face fell. “Oh, it’s _you.”_ Apparently the other redhead was expecting or hoping for someone else.

Charlie almost frowned, but remembered the plan and decided to stick to it. “Yep, it’s me.” She smiled seductively and started twirling her hair.

“Well? I don’t have all day! Especially not for _you.”_ Anna had more important plans for the afternoon, ones involving finding ways to torture Brady, who had spread rumors about her mentor and recruiter.

“I was just thinking - Well...I mean.” Charlie’s words failed her, forgetting all the planning once she took a look into Anna’s blue eyes.

“Wow! You’re even more of a dweeb than I thought!” Anna said meanly, quickly running out of patience and already thinking about leaving.

“So you _have_ thought of me,” Charlie said, trying so hard to flirt but failing utterly and completely.

Anna turned around at those last words and started walking, completely ignoring the mumbling mess who was now behind her. She almost screamed when Charlie jumped in front of her, blocking her way.

“What the fuck, Bradbury! Are you always this thick?” she exclaimed, ready to beat the shit out of the tiny redhead.

Charlie felt tears bubbling close to the surface before she pushed them down and forced a smile. She opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by Anna lifting her shirt, revealing a tattoo of Charlie’s name across the line of her abdomen. “Look, _nerd._ I know what you want, and I’m not interested,” she said before moving a step to the left and start walking again.

“But, you don’t even know me!” Charlie shouted, infuriated, not really by Anna’s reaction -which had been expected- but instead by the hurt that stabbed into Charlie’s heart.

Anna turned around, flipping her hair back, and an evil smile spread across her face. “Oh, honey, I know enough to not want to be seen around you. Soul mates? More like complete opposites.” She took a few steps closer to the girl who was feeling even tinier than she actually was.

“I’m a Beta, darling; I don’t do nerds who are too obsessed with lame video games to realize they need clean clothes.” She pressed her finger hard at the fresh stain on Charlie’s shirt, which made the other girl look down, almost choking on her tears.

“Now, I suggest you find someone on the same level, because really it’s not fair to you. I mean, this? It’s never gonna happen. Now run along to your clueless giant friend and cry on his shoulder.”

Charlie tried to control the tears running down her face, but it was too much. However, once she heard Anna’s comment about Sam, she took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. “Lookie here, bimbo! You can think you’re all that, you can act like a total bitch to me, heck you can even insult me. But say one more thing about Sam Winchester and I will rip your head off your shoulders.” She had a dark tone, almost scary, and she closed the gap between herself and Anna, pressing her finger hard at the other girl’s chest. “Now _you_ run along to your gang of evil bitches, before I show you exactly what my _lame_ video games taught me.”

Anna scoffed before she turned around and walked away, her heart beating just a little faster than it should be.

* * *

 

“What the hell was that?” Sam asked as Charlie approached him outside the dorms, tears running down her face once again and sniffling, her lower lip quivering as she struggled to reign in her emotions. She collapsed into Sam’s chest as the big guy enveloped her in a bear hug. She cried for a long while before she was able to talk.

“I _hate_ her!” she bit out. She stomped away from Sam and went straight for the male dormitories. She made her way up the stairs and into her friend’s room, slamming the door so hard it made Andy jolt up from his sleep.

“What the hell, Charlie!” Andy croaked, his heart racing from the unpleasant surprise.

“Go back to sleep, pothead,” Charlie spat and threw a pillow from Sam’s bed at him, just as their friend was walking into the room.

“The fuck is your deal?” The formerly-sleeping man wasn’t used to Charlie being so aggressive to him. She had always been a good friend, helping him with school work, even playing his wingman a couple of times at the Roadhouse.

Sam shook his head at Andy, trying to make him understand. Luckily, Andy wasn’t as out of it as usual and he got the gist. He was still angry, though, so he grabbed the pillow Charlie threw at him and put it over his head, trying to go back to sleep to ignore the coming conversation.

Sam watched Charlie pace for a few minutes, reminding him of just last night when she’d shown him her tattoo. Finally, her strides began to slow, her furious energy finally waning. “So,” he said, “that was rather mean.”

Charlie shot a guilty look at Andy’s curled form. “I know. She just… She made me so _mad_. Sam, I am so sorry that I tried to force you to work things out with you-know-who. There has to be something flawed in the system. What did I do to deserve this?”

Sam sighed and tugged Charlie into another hug. “You didn’t do anything, Charlie. I think we both just got handed some shitty cards this round. But we’ll make it work out. Maybe this isn’t because you did something wrong, but because whoever decides on these things saw that you’d be the only one who could help Anna.” He pushed her back a step and waited until she looked at him. “Charlie, you are an amazing person, and I can’t imagine that anyone would want to hurt you. If Anna was herself, I think she’d fall for you in a heartbeat. If we were both straight, I’d totally be all over you.”

Charlie laughed. “You couldn’t handle this,” she said with a smile.

“Don’t I know it. You’d have me whipped in a week,” Sam said - only slightly joking - as he pulled her close once more. “We’ll fix this, Charlie. I swear.”

Charlie smiled and curled her fingers into Sam’s shirt. “I know, Sam. I have faith.”

* * *

 

That night, after texting to change their plans, he headed to Amelia’s. Once he reached the building where both she and Gabriel lived, he slowed his steps. Trying to peek around corners and up the staircases, he fought down the urge to just run away.

Finally reaching Amelia’s door, he knocked quietly. A moment later, the door swung wide open and he was greeted by Amelia’s smiling face. “Hey! I didn’t think you’d actually show! Come on in,” she invited, backing out of the way.

Not wanting to admit that he really hadn’t almost showed, Sam instead smiled and turned his attention to Riot. The dog had come running once he heard the door closing.

Amelia laughed shook her head. “He’s too much like a puppy to truly be four years old.”

“Aww, age is just a number. It’s how young you are inside that counts,” Sam said as he scratched behind the dog’s ears.

“So, I didn’t get a chance to pick up the ingredients to make the cobbler. Mind a trip to the store?” Amelia asked a minute later.

“Sure. I don’t mind at all.”

Amelia smiled and grabbed her wallet, as well as Riot’s leash. Sam gently took it from her and clipped it to the dog’s collar, grinning at how excited he grew once the door was open. “How do you not get dragged around with him?” Sam asked, his own arms struggling slightly to hold Riot back.

“Lots of practice. And I’m stronger than I look,” Amelia said with a smile.

The two headed downstairs, never noticing the door to Gabriel’s apartment creaking open just a hair to watch them go by.

Almost an hour later, they returned. With Riot along, they’d had to go a bit farther than expected to shop at an open-air farmer’s market. They’d had fun, teasing each other and making a few memories. Finally back home, they’d set about making the cobbler.

While Sam played a game of tug of war with Riot, Amelia started preparing the dish. Sam had tried to help, but the spitfire woman pushed him out of the kitchen. “My kitchen, my rules. Go play with Riot until I’m done.”

Having a pet had always been one of Sam’s desires, but his dad was always against it. It didn’t help that his brother hated dogs, no matter how cuddly or fluffy. So Riot was like a godsend, giving Sam a taste of what he could have if he ever considered owning a dog. Of course, Sam was more into Golden Retrievers, or maybe a Lab, but it didn’t matter - all dogs were amazing.

As he played - and lost - several games with the mutt, Amelia got to work. As the dish came together, she smiled and felt that this was the best making she’d ever done. Having fresh fruit from the farmer’s market helped, but it was Amelia’s cooking expertise that made all the difference.

And maybe Sam being there helped, too.

A little over an hour later, Sam’s nose caught a whiff of the amazing, mouth-watering scent of the dessert. He dropped the squeaky toy that Riot had brought to him and followed his nose to the kitchen.

* * *

 

After a long day at home, most of it spent moping around and replaying the events of the night before in his head, Gabriel decided to go get some fresh air. He reached the door and, just as he was about to open it, his heart almost stopped. He heard the familiar laughter of Sam echoing from the apartment across the way. He thought for a minute that his mind was playing tricks on him, that he was just imagining it, but then he heard his soul mate’s name being called out loudly by his neighbor, and he was sure that Sam was just across the hall.

He cracked his door just enough to peek out into the hall, and he saw Sam being tugged forward by Riot. Amelia, his archenemy/neighbor, was laughing, trying to catch up with the two puppies in front of her.

Gabriel watched them until they disappeared behind the stairs. It was a few seconds before he realized what he was doing. He had grabbed his keys and was on their trail, following the two from a safe distance. He followed them all the way to the farmer’s market. “ _Typical,”_ he thought to himself.

The green monster of jealousy that was perching on Gabriel’s shoulder kept growing bigger with every smile, laugh, or touch that Amelia and Sam shared. The two were acting like a pair of disgusting lovers, giggling at what Gabriel assumed were lame jokes, and playing with the mutt who was, in Gabriel’s opinion, too ugly and loud.

Amelia kept smelling fruits and then shoving them in Sam’s face to smell them in turn. _“As if either of them know what they’re doing!”_ Gabriel scoffed. He was burning with jealousy, almost turning green himself. Less than 40 minutes later, he had had enough. He turned around and stomped away, cursing under his breath, promising himself to get back at Amelia for this.

Gabriel reached his apartment, slamming the door behind him. Angry and disappointed, he started throwing things around. At first he grabbed a book and sent it flying at the wall. When that failed to give him any satisfaction, he reached for the vase on his table and, with one fling, he shattered it into a million pieces. A little relieved, he grabbed whatever else was on the table - an ashtray - and gave it the same treatment, this time causing a dent in his wall.

He kept at this for another fifteen minutes, breaking anything he could reach until he collapsed on the couch, exhausted. He was panting, barely able to breathe, when suddenly he felt a warm tear trickle down his cheek, letting loose a tidal wave that washed over him in seconds.

All of a sudden, Gabriel was crying - nay, weeping - like he had lost someone dear. In all truth, it felt like he _had_ just lost someone very dear - his soul mate. Someone you couldn’t really replace; they wouldn’t call them soulmates if they were easy to replace.

He curled up on his couch and cried silently for over an hour, trying hard to find happy memories with Sam. Unfortunately, besides the two times they had slept together, there weren’t any good memories with his soulmate. Most of the time, Gabriel and Sam had fought, hurting each other, Sam more than Gabriel (or so he thought).

It took him another hour to be able to get up and clean his place, sweeping away the broken glass, with some pieces almost as small as the ones of his own broken heart. He couldn’t help but think how cruel Sam was for dating his next door neighbor, how evil it was to just flaunt this new relationship just a day after they had ‘broken up’.

He spent the rest of the weekend obsessing over what the new couple were doing, thinking of ways to get back at his neighbor. She had crossed a line this time; sure, they always pranked each other, but this? This was something else.

For the next few days, Gabriel fell into a nearly-catatonic daze. He barely made it to his classes, ate nothing but sugary candy (when he actually ate), and drank almost exclusively whiskey. His health was deteriorating and his job was in jeopardy; Chuck had called him many times warning him about missing any more classes. Fortunately for Gabriel, there was no other Norse mythology teacher in the state, and the university couldn’t afford firing him just yet.

He lived in a state of haze, not knowing his mornings from his nights. Every time he heard Sam’s voice coming from across the hall, he would fall into an emotionally-destructive mood, blaming himself for everything that was wrong with the world, hating himself for being the way he was, for being himself.

It wasn’t long before emotional destruction became physical. It started out when he accidently broke a glass of whiskey and cut himself while he was picking up the pieces. The physical pain he felt distracted him from his mental one, and the sight of his blood flowing out of him gave him some sort of relief.

After that, he started doing it on purpose. That pain was the only thing that distracted him from Sam and the thought of him with Amelia and her dog. It had a sense of serenity to it, watching blood trickle down his body to mingle with water from the shower, or spread across the sheets he hadn’t changed since the day Sam left in such a hurry.

It was a once-every-couple-of-days kind of thing, but soon Gabriel started cutting every day, using anything he could manage to get his hands on. With every cut he made, he hated himself a little more, blaming himself for what happened with Sam and for being the asshole that he was. Sam wouldn’t have run away if Gabriel were different, if he were decent and normal.

He didn’t deserve happiness, that was his conclusion. He was not meant to be happy. If he was, the universe wouldn’t have coupled him with someone like Sam, someone he didn’t deserve. Gabriel’s mind ran away with him, thinking of new ways to hate himself and new reasons why he was a bad person. That kid he bullied back in high school, the endless horde of guys he fucked and never called back, not taking care of Anna - these were all good reasons, in his opinion, to deserve this pain. And so he cut and cut, every time a little deeper, until his arms looked like something had mauled him.

One day, he got out of bed to pee and spotted his tattoo in the mirror. He was filled with such rage and hate at that moment that he decided to get rid of it. He did not deserve this tattoo, and Sam didn’t deserve to be tied down to such a fuckup. The kid deserved better.

He stood in front of the mirror, staring at the tattoo. Suddenly, he caught sight of a pair of small scissors he used to trim his hair. His mind curiously blank, Gabriel picked up the sharp object, turning it over in his hands. He met his own gaze in the mirror. The pain, the hurt, the _heartache_ stared back at him. Gabriel growled and turned his back to his reflection, pressing the pointy end of the scissors to the S and dragging along the length of the tattoo. It was no shallow cut; the blade of the scissors went in deep, and he was in a lot of pain. Nevertheless, he kept on going, making a slash all the way to the last letter.

Gabriel felt the blood running down his legs; it was warm and thick, and it brought relief washing down on him. He soon collapsed down on his knees, bleeding onto the tile floor. As he gasped for breath between the waves of pain, he came to a realization.

Sam was the one at fault here! _He_ was the one with issues, not Gabriel. He’d tried to be with him, but the kid had too many issues. As his mind turned this new information over and over, Gabriel started panicking, having finally realized he might actually bleed out and die.

“Amelia!” he screamed out. He couldn’t think of anyone else! Proximity-wise, she was the closest human being to him. He screamed her name over and over again, yelling until he heard the door open and footsteps running towards him.

“Oh my god! Gabriel! What did you do?” Amelia screamed out as the sheer amount of blood registered. Frantic, she grabbed one of the dirty towels laying on the floor and pressed it hard against Gabriel’s wound.

The rest of that day was a complete haze. Gabriel couldn’t remember anything besides the annoying sound of the ambulance siren piercing his ears before he went to sleep. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Amelia sitting by his bedside in the hospital.

“Oh god, I’m in hell, aren’t I?” Gabriel slurred, barely able to talk from the anesthetic that made his brain fuzzy.

Amelia smiled and grabbed his hand. “Yes you are, and I’m Satan.” She squeezed his hand tight, eyes welling with tears. “Why did you do it, Gabriel? Nothing is worth this,” she said softly.

“Yeah, I know,” he said with a smile crooking the corners of his lips, slowly coming out from under the haze of drugs. Worry furrowed his brow. “Please don’t tell Sam. Please, Amelia,” he begged her as tears ran down his face.

“I won’t, I promise,” she said as she smiled through her tears and squeezed his hand again


	6. Chapter 6

Over the weekend, Gabriel recovered. The first day had him lying on his stomach for most the day, in and out of a drug-induced sleep. Amelia came and went, checking in on him and bringing him food, bullying him into taking his medications. She called Cas, his cousin, and told him what had happened, only to have the other man show up at Gabriel’s door less than ten minutes later and take over Gabriel’s care.

The next day was better. A little less fuzzy, he spoke at length about why he’d done it. Not that his reasoning was truly coherent, but Cas seemed to understand. He promised not to tell Sam anything of his failed attempt at cutting away his tattoo.

As the days went by, Gabriel became more and more able to get around himself. He grew tired of being stuck at home, but dreaded going back to teaching and being faced with Sam.

Monday morning came too soon, but Gabriel forced himself out of bed and into the shower. He had classes he needed to attend to, and he’d be damned if he would let Sam Winchester ruin any more of his year. He was setting himself back on track; he was going to be himself again.

It almost worked.

On that Wednesday, he went to his first class and taught with the zeal and charisma he’d had at the beginning of the semester. People sat up and paid attention for once in the last two months, and it gave Gabriel a sense of pride.

As the students from the first class filed out, Gabriel turned to the whiteboard, erasing it and preparing himself for the next class. He had a smile on his face and a tune in his head. Nothing could ruin this day. Well, nothing besides seeing Sam standing at his door with a pathetic smile on his face.

He tried to ignore him, thinking that maybe the giant would get the idea and just go to his seat.

Instead, Sam cleared his throat and spoke. “Good morning, Gabriel,” Sam said in a soft tone. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, his palms sweaty and his knees barely keeping him standing.

“That’s Mr. Milton to you, Mr. Winchester,” Gabriel said without turning away from the board. He was starting to get angry again, remembering Sam’s abrupt exit two weeks before and his subsequent relationship with Amelia. Not to mention the neat scar now healing on Gabriel’s back.

Sam grimaced at the cold attitude, but he couldn’t really blame Gabriel. Not after how he’d freaked out that day. Swallowing his urge to blurt everything about Anna right then, Sam nodded and took his usual seat. He didn’t really think this through, since it gave him a direct line of sight toward Gabriel. Throughout the class, Sam was stuck watching Gabriel’s charismatic lecture.

It was almost like the beginning of this hellish semester, before they became soulmates and ruined each other’s lives. Sam bit his lip, watching the khaki pants stretch over Gabriel’s butt, reminding him of the way the teacher’s ass had felt under his hands the other night. Wishing he could crawl into a hole, Sam forced his eyes back upward, trying to somewhat focus on the lecture.

As for Gabriel, he wasn’t doing much better. Being back was hard enough without having to look at the person who caused him all of this pain, the emotional and the physical. He tried as best as possible to put a lid on his emotions, his anger, but looking at Sam made it nearly impossible. He spent most of the class period with his back to the room, using the whiteboard to draw caricatures of the stars of his current lecture.

“Many people think that Thor and Loki shared a more intimate relationship. The Avengers did nothing to stop those rumors, did it?” Gabriel joked.

The class laughed and Gabriel grinned to himself. He was getting back in the swing of things. For the next twenty minutes, he cracked many jokes at the expense of the Norse gods, always getting at least a few chuckles from the class. Brady, of course, had to ruin things.

“Hey, Mr. Milton, you sure you drew Thor and Loki? Sure looks a lot like you and Sam.” The words were said with a smirk, Brady knowing that he was getting under Gabriel’s skin.

Sam stared down at his notebook, refusing to look up. Gabriel, frozen where he’d been about to add to the drawing of Loki, rested his head on the board for a moment.

“Brady, go see the dean. I will not have you disrupting this class anymore with your attempts to humiliate myself or another student.” When the student sat there, disbelieving, Gabriel yelled, “ _Now_!”

Jolting to his feet, Brady gathered his things and walked stiffly from the room. One by one, the students began clapping. Gabriel ignored them and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Chuck’s secretary and explaining the situation. After she promised to take care of things, he hung up and turned back to the class.

“Now. Where were we?”

* * *

 

After class had ended, Sam waited in his seat, slowly gathering his things, until everyone else had left. When he and Gabriel were alone, he drummed up his courage and made his way over to the older man. “Hey, Gabe-” he began.

Gabriel interrupted him. “I’ve told you once today already, Mister Winchester. That’s Mister Milton to you.”

Sam swallowed hard. Nodding his head, he began again. “Mr. Milton, I need your help.”

Gabriel barked a laugh. “What makes you think I’d do anything to help you, Winchester?”

“Because it’s not about me-” Sam started to explain, but was once more cut off.

“When is it not about you?” the teacher asked incredulously.

“Gabriel, I’m serious!”

“No! You don’t get to call me Gabriel, or Gabe, or anything except _Mr. Milton._ You lost any right to call me anything but that when you left me and then started fucking my neighbor!” Gabriel bit his lip, immediately regretting bringing it up. He turned away from Sam and began putting his things away.

Sam, for his part, was speechless. Gabriel thought he...was having sex with Amelia? Finally finding words, he took a step toward Gabriel. “I’m not having sex with Amelia, you asshole. She’s my _friend_. Something you probably don’t know much about.” Disgusted, Sam gripped his backpack strap tighter and stalked toward the door. Turning back for a moment, he spat, “And I was trying to get your help to save my best friend’s soulmate - your _cousin_ , Anna. Forget it. We’ll figure this out on our own.”

The door slammed behind Sam, leaving Gabriel feeling like the asshole Sam had accused him of being. Sinking into his chair, Gabriel put his head in his hands. Hadn’t he been thinking just a few weeks ago of how much Anna had changed? Of how he wanted to help her get back to her old self? Maybe this was his chance to save her and redeem himself. If he’d paid more attention in the beginning, maybe she wouldn’t be in this situation now.

Mind made up, Gabriel grabbed his bag and headed home. He needed to talk to Cas.

* * *

 

Sam was beyond pissed. He was _livid_. How dare Gabriel act like Sam had betrayed anything by befriending Amelia. As he fairly stomped back to his dorm room, he pulled out his phone. Calling Charlie, he bit out, “Gabriel won’t help us. We’re on our own. Meet me at my room?”

When the redhead agreed, Sam shoved his phone into his pocket and kept walking. His fast pace had him walking into his dorm less than five minutes later. Charlie wasn’t there yet, so Sam flopped onto his bed and lay there face down until he heard a knock on his door. Charlie’s head poked inside the room a moment later.

“Everyone decent?” she asked with a small smile.

“Come on in, Charlie,” Sam said wearily. His anger was finally abating, leaving him feeling worn out.

“Hey, are you okay? You didn’t sound so great on the phone,” she said, sitting beside Sam.

Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, it’s just… Gabriel makes me so mad!”

“What happened?” Charlie asked, laying a hand on Sam’s leg.

“I waited till after class to talk to him, and he immediately started acting like an asshole! All because I called him by his name. _‘It’s Mister Milton to you,’”_ Sam mocked. “And then! Then he accused me of sleeping with his neighbor, Amelia. I told him that she was just my friend, something he wouldn’t know much about. And then I walked out. I just couldn’t stand there and listen to him anymore.”

“Sam, you don’t really have the right to be mad at him. He’s probably just hurting,” Charlie tried to reason.

Sam glared at her, though the look lacked any real heat. “I’m really regretting the whole _best friend_ thing right now. Remind me why I tell you everything again?”

Charlie laughed. “Because I’m so much smarter than you.”

The redhead let out a shriek when Sam lunged at her, intending to tickle her into submission - or at least until she took back her words.

(She did neither.)

After an hour or so of trying to come up with some kind of plan that didn’t involve Gabriel, Charlie left for her own dorm. “Homework doesn’t care about soulmate issues,” she said sadly.

After she left, Sam changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. After his confrontation with Gabriel, he just wanted to sleep now that the anger had worn off. And sleep he did. Sam slept so well that he missed his Thursday morning class. Charlie, who shared that class, busted into the room that afternoon, out of her mind with worry.

“Sam!” she yelled, yanking his pillow from under his head. She then proceeded to hit him with said pillow until he woke up.

“What the hell, Charlie?” he asked, still mostly asleep.

“You missed our class this morning, and you haven’t answered any of my texts!”

Sam caught the pillow and took it from the violent woman. “I forgot to set my alarm. And my phone’s probably dead. I didn’t put it on charge last night.”

“Oh.” His reasoning accepted, Charlie seemed to deflate. “I was worried about you,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry. Yesterday was just an awful day, and I wanted to sleep until I forgot.”

“Oh, Sam-”

A knock at the door had them both freezing. They shared a look of confusion before Sam stood and made his way to the door.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the young man said when he saw who stood there.

“Well fuck you too, kiddo. I can leave, if you’d rather try all this _without_ my help,” Gabriel snarked.

Charlie shoved Sam out of the way and grasped Gabriel’s sleeve. “Don’t leave!” she blurted as she all but dragged him into the room.

“You must be the best friend. AKA, Anna’s soulmate.”

“I’m Charlie. Sam’s told me all about you.”

“Not everything, I hope,” the teacher joked.

“Moving on!” Sam called out, having pulled himself together for the most part - and pulled on some pants. He set to cleaning off a chair for Gabriel to sit on, only for the teacher to plop onto Sam’s bed. Biting his tongue, Sam simply sat in the chair himself.

“Right. Plan time. I need the two of you to be at my apartment tomorrow afternoon. Say, noonish. I’ll get Anna over there. Sasquatch, need you to stand at the door and not let her out. Think you can handle that?”

“Yes, I can handle that,” Sam bit out.

“Goodie, now on to the real plan,” he said averting his look from Sam. “We’re doing an intervention kind of thing. So I need both of you to be as gentle as possible.” He looked back at his soulmate. “Sam, just pretend she’s Amelia,” Gabriel finished, giving him a look of disapproval.

“For the last time Gabriel, I am _not_ sleeping with Amelia!” Sam shouted. Frustration overwhelming him, he stood up and walked for the door, only to be stopped by Charlie.

“Sam! Please, just do this for me,” Charlie begged, using her puppy eyes - which she knew worked like magic on her best friend.

“Really, Charlie? He’s the one being an asshole here, not me!” Sam looked at Gabriel, electricity sparking in his eyes.

“Great, Sam. Blame it on me; that’s what you do best, isn’t it?” Gabriel snarled at the angry tall guy.

Sam scoffed and gently moved Charlie out of his way. “Okay, Gabriel. You wanna do this? Let’s do it,” he said and shoved the shorter man, causing him to back away a couple of steps.

Gabriel adjusted himself, spreading his legs in a way to stand his ground in case Sam tried that again. He huffed a laugh. “Wow, kiddo. You are _seriously_ damaged.”

“Gabriel!” Charlie shouted at him, moving Sam away and facing the teacher herself. “You say one more thing like that and we can figure this out without your help.” She backed off when she saw the hurt in Gabriel’s eyes, something you couldn’t spot until you were that close to him. The man must be in so much pain to lash out in such a way, she figured.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said, looking away.

“No. I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” Charlie said and gestured behind her at Sam, who was standing there somewhat shocked at how protective of him Charlie was.

Gabriel took a deep breath before he looked straight at Sam. “I’m sorry, Sam. I didn’t mean it.” He quickly looked away, a part of him afraid he might show just how much in pain he really was. Besides the obvious emotional pain, the scar on his back was sending sharp pokes of pain all his spine, caused by Sam’s shove.

“It’s alright. We’re doing this for Anna anyway, so let’s just try and focus on that,” Sam said, taking his seat again.

Charlie smiled at the both of them, feeling somewhat heartbroken over the two perfect soulmates in such an imperfect situation and wondering how Sam could ever think that they didn’t belong to each other. She had never seen a couple so in love and so perfect for one another as Sam and Gabriel.

Clapping her hands together, Charlie brought both males’ brooding attention back to her. “Thank you both. This means more than I can ever express. I just...I can’t imagine _knowing_ who my soulmate is and never giving it a chance to work out.” She saw Sam and Gabriel glance at each other before their gazes skittered away. “If those evil bitches think that they can brainwash _my_ woman and get away with, they have another thing coming!”

Sam felt true fear at the look in Charlie’s eyes. “Easy, tiger. We’re just trying to get Anna back. Don’t go all Rambo on us.”

“I wasn’t planning anything big! Just...you know… Ruin their reputations and online lives through ill-gotten means including hackery and total anonymous annihilation.”

Gabriel let out a sound that closely resembled a dying frog. A moment later, he burst into gut-wrenching laughter. “Oh, my god. Oh, fuck, that hurts. Dammit, Sam, where did you _find_ this chick? Remind me to never piss you off!”

Charlie’s eyes glittered with mirth as she took in Gabriel’s laughter. _This_ was why he was so perfect for Sam. Gabriel took every moment as it came, and he didn’t worry too much over the details. He had a killer sense of humor that, honestly, Sam needed to mellow out his own sort of uptight sensibilities.

Sam cracked a smile at the absolute, unrestrained way Gabriel laughed. In the months since they’d discovered their connection, Sam could count on one hand the number of times he’d heard Gabriel laugh like that. Before he could introspect too much, Gabriel stood and sighed.

“Okay, brats. I have a house to go clean and a cousin to lure over. Tomorrow at noon! I’ll get Anna to come over around one, so that’ll give everyone plenty of time to get in their places.”

“Thank you again, Mister Milton,” Charlie piped up, looking incredibly too young and innocent to have talked so blithely about ruining the lives of the girls who had corrupted her soulmate.

“Don’t mention it, Red.”

Sam felt a stab in his heart when Gabriel barely looked at him on his way out. After the door had shut behind the older man and Sam heard his footsteps echo down the hallway, he buried his head in his hands. “Charlie, how am I supposed to do this? I can’t be around him for that long. Especially when he doesn’t believe that I’m not boning his neighbor!”

Charlie’s heart broke for Sam, but she hardened her resolve. “Sam Winchester! You promised me you would do anything for me, if only I asked. Well, I’m asking. No, I’m _telling_! This is my _soulmate!_ My one chance at happiness for the rest of my life. This is not about you and Gabriel and your issues together. I’m sorry, I love you, but for once, this is about _me!_ ”

“Charlie, I’m sorry if I made you think that I don’t care, but you have to see how hard this is for me! He has done nothing but make me miserable since we found out we were soulmates,” Sam began, but Charlie held up a hand to stop his coming tirade.

“If you don’t feel comfortable helping me save my soulmate from her brainwashing cult of psycho bitches, fine. But I can’t listen to you about this right now. I can’t deal with you blaming Gabriel for everything that’s gone wrong, then being mad when he does the same. If you want to talk to me in two days, I’ll be here. But right now, my main focus is Anna.” With her speech concluded. Charlie stared Sam down, daring him to comment.

“Fuck, of course I want to help you. But please keep in mind that things may go south with us being in a confined space for so long together.”

“Duly noted. Now, I made a copy of my notes from class this morning. We should get as much homework done as possible now before things get serious,” the redhead reasoned.

“Good plan,” Sam agreed. “Anything interesting in class today?”

“Other than the fact that Ash fell asleep and Professor Crowley tied his shoelaces together? Nope.”

The next few hours was spent completing their various homework assignments. After the last question was answered and problem solved, the two curled up on Sam’s bed to watch a movie to unwind. Andy came in about halfway through and piled onto the bed, leaving them a tangled heap of laughter and limbs.

It was nearly midnight when Charlie finally left, intent on heading back to her room and getting some rest before the big day. It took Sam another couple of hours to fall asleep, caught up on Gabriel’s laughter from earlier.

His eyes had brightened to the point of being nearly golden in the light, and his cheeks had been red with the force of his laughs. To Sam, he had never been more beautiful.

Finally, after daydreaming about the other man for hours, Sam drifted off.

* * *

 

The next morning came all too early. Waking at eight, Sam went for his daily run before grabbing a shower back at the dorm. With no classes on Fridays, most kids who could had gone home for the weekend - leaving the dorm blessedly quiet.

Sam took his time showering, needing as much good-feeling as he could get. By ten-thirty, he was debating what to wear. Forty-five minutes later, when Charlie knocked on his door, Sam was still rocking just his underwear.

“I feel like a moron,” Sam said as he opened the door to let his best friend in.

“What happened?” Charlie asked as she sat lightly on Sam’s bed.

“I feel like I’m trying to get ready for a date. I can’t decide what to wear, I keep feeling like my hair looks stupid. What is wrong with me?” With a defeated slump to his shoulders, Sam dropped heavily into the chair in front of his desk.

Charlie tried to keep from smiling, but she couldn’t help it. “Sam, you _like_ him. Of course you want to look great when we go over there. But I’m pretty sure that he’ll think you look great no matter what you wear.”

“But that’s the thing Charlie - I shouldn’t care what he thinks. We’ve both pretty well agreed that we’re not a good match, that things would never work out. So why do I keep torturing myself like this?”

“Oh, Sam. You’re both so confused. Look, do me a favor. Just put some normal clothes on, act like nothing's bothering you, and watch how he looks at you. I promise that he’s just as confused and conflicted as you are.”

“But what if he’s not?” Sam asked quietly, looking down at his hands.

“Then he doesn’t deserve you.”

* * *

 

By the time the two left for Gabriel’s apartment, Sam had taken Charlie’s advice and dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, with a campus-spirit hoodie thrown over it. He still felt mildly adolescent in his desire to have Gabriel approve of his style, but Sam was working hard to tamp that down. Walking up the stairs to Gabriel’s apartment, anxiety grabbed him tight.

Charlie, having kept a close eye on her friend, immediately slipped her arm through his. “You’ve got this, Sam.”

The tall senior took a deep breath and nodded his head firmly. Charlie was right; he had this.

Walking into the apartment he had left on such bad terms two weeks ago was easier than he thought it’d be. Seeing Gabriel, however, was not. His breath left him in a rush, but Gabriel didn’t notice the state Sam was in.

Gabriel was in his own state of turmoil. Doubts and _what-if_ s kept running through his mind. It was only when Cas finally grabbed him by the arms and physically sat him in a chair that the teacher ceased his pacing. The next moment, Sam and Charlie walked in. Gabriel was immediately back up, darting to see if Anna had just arrived. When he saw that it was just Sam and Charlie, his shoulders drooped with relief.

“Is it just me, or does anyone else kinda wish this was over with already? My nerves are completely shot!” the teacher complained.

Cas rolled his eyes. “Perhaps if you had limited your coffee intake to one cup instead of _three pots_ , you wouldn’t be so jittery.”

“I can’t help it! I drink when I’m stressed, and alcohol wasn’t exactly an option this early in the day. Unfortunately,” he finished, the last word mostly under his breath.

Castiel heard and narrowed his eyes at his older cousin. Before he could say anything, a loud knock echoed through the apartment. Everyone froze before bursting into motion.

“What the hell?!” Gabriel whispered frantically. “She’s like twenty minutes early!”

“Just go! We’ll wait in your room for now!” Cas said, guiding a still-frozen Charlie to said bedroom.

Sam darted to the hall closet, nearly tripping over Gabriel on his way to the front door. They just managed to avoid a collision, but Gabriel stumbled into the door frame anyway. He pulled open the door to reveal a slightly-disheveled Anna. Gabriel gaped for a moment, unused to seeing his younger cousin without her aura of perfection.

“What do you want, Gabe? I’ve got a lot going on,” the young Milton said in a weary tone.

Gabriel was out of breath, and he looked as stressed as he felt. He moved from the doorway and gestured for Anna to walk in.

“What? We’re not gonna talk in the doorway. Come in, young padawan,” he said, pulling her inside by the hand.

Anna rolled her eyes and walked in, only to be surprised by Sam closing the door behind her and blocking it.

She turned around, eyes wide. “What the hell?” she screeched. By the time she had turned back to look at Gabriel, Charlie had already stepped out of the bedroom.

Charlie was sweating, nervous that this wasn’t going to work.

“What the actual fuck, Gabe?!” Anna shouted, turning and trying to go for the door.

Sam shook his head at her, but it did not stop her from trying to shove him out of the way. He stood his ground, doing the one job he was asked to do.

“Anna, we just wanna talk to you,” Gabriel said.

Anna turned to face her cousin. “You don’t get to say anything to me, traitor! You ambushed me!”

“Anna,” Castiel intoned as he stepped out of the bedroom.

When she heard her brother’s voice, she froze. She did not expect, not in a million years, to see him again. She looked back at Gabriel, shaking her head in disappointment.

“You called _him?_ ” she demanded, pointing at Cas.

Gabriel swallowed hard, feeling uncertain about his plan. He instinctively looked at Sam for comfort, only to find that his soulmate was looking right at him. The student nodded and smiled softly, encouraging Gabriel to go on.

Gabriel took a deep breath, finding some strength in Sam’s reaction. “Yes, I called him. If there was anyone you would ever listen to, it’s him.” He was almost confident of his words.

Castiel moved closer to his sister and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off and walked away, turning her back to him.

“Anna, we need to talk to you. All of us,” Castiel said softly.

“Well I don’t need to talk to any of you!” Anna exclaimed loudly. She looked at Sam with disgust. “What are you even doing here, loser? You know he doesn’t want you. He’d rather keep fucking every other guy on campus. You think you’re his first student?”

Sam smiled at Anna’s words, as hurtful as they may have been. “I’m here for Charlie, Anna. She loves you.”

“Ha! That geek?” Anna turned to look at Charlie who was still silent, just observing.

“Yeah, well, that geek is your soulmate, and you need to listen to her,” Gabriel said, a little angry now.

Anna scoffed and eyed both her cousin and his soulmate. “Yeah, you’re one to give soulmate advice. You can’t even keep him around for longer than a lay!” she accused, pointing in Sam’s direction.

“Anna!” Charlie finally spoke. She stepped up, standing right in front of her soulmate’s face, intending to start speaking some harsh truths to combat Anna’s own hurtful words.

“Stay out of it, dweeb. You’re beneath me,” the slightly-taller redhead said.

“Enough!” Castiel shouted, his voice thunderous. All eyes turned to him, not expecting the quiet man to get that loud. “Anael,” he said softly, “you’re better than this.”

Tears gathered in Anna’s eyes, but she furiously blinked them away.

“Anael?” Gabriel asked with confusion.

His eyes still focused on his sister, Castiel explained. “I took a class once on theology, focusing on the angels of lore. There was an angel named Anael. This angel is said to be the ruler of the angels of Friday and has dominion over the moon. Anna was born on a Friday, during a full moon. I thought it too much of a coincidence.”

Tears burned afresh in Anna’s eyes, but this time with anger. “You have _no right_ to use that name, let alone talk to me at all. You _abandoned_ me!”

“Anna, I did no such thing. You turned your back on your family and former friends when you joined that godsbedamned sorority,” the older brother said quietly but with force.

“No! You didn’t want to accept that this is me now! This is who I am now, and you have no place in my life!”

“Anna, I am your brother. I will _always_ be part of your life.”

Charlie placed a hand on Anna’s shoulder, drawing the youngest Milton’s attention. “Anna, this _isn’t_ you. I remember a shy young freshman, years younger and lightyears ahead of her peers and just trying to fit in. I remember you wearing those cute reading glasses in the library, laughing at a dumb joke Andy told.”

Anna shook her head, but didn’t pull away from Charlie’s light touch.

“I also remember seeing you out in the quad, reading my favorite book so we’d have something to talk about. I _prayed_ it would be you, every day since then. Even when you started calling me hurtful names, and treating me and my friends like trash, and changed from my friend Anna into Ruby’s protégé.”

Tears rolled down Anna’s cheeks as she turned away from Charlie. Charlie refused to let her retreat, moving in front of her to place her hands on Anna’s shoulders.

“I don’t love you because you’re my soulmate,” Charlie said softly. “I love you - I’ve _always_ loved you - for _you_.”

Sam sniffled a bit, hearing his own feelings in Charlie’s heartfelt words. He looked over at his own soulmate, catching the older man surreptitiously wiping his eyes. For the first time in weeks, Sam’s heart felt light with the love he felt for Gabriel.

Gabriel glanced at Sam, wishing their own situation were as cut and dried. Catching Sam’s eye, he sent a half smile, wishing the simple gesture could tell Sam how much he wanted to make things work out.

Anna spoke, drawing their attention once more. “I’m not that person anymore,” she said sadly.

“Yes, you are,” Cas said, stepping forward to place his hand on Anna’s head, slightly ruffling her hair. “Bring my Anael back.”

Anna began to sob as the dam holding back her emotions finally burst. “I don’t know how!” she cried.

Charlie immediately wrapped her arms around Anna. “We can do it together.”

* * *

 

Hours later, Anna and Castiel were still talking, catching up and crying together over lost time. Charlie, Gabriel and Sam were stuck in the bedroom, awkwardly smiling at each other and waiting for the siblings to finish talking.

When laughter filled the apartment, the three figured it was time to join the other two in the living room. Charlie walked out of the bedroom first, and when Sam tried to do the same, he was pulled back by Gabriel.

“What?” Sam asked softly.

“I miss you, Sam,” Gabriel said, smiling softly.

Sam smiled back, bending down and planting a gentle kiss on Gabriel’s cheek. He turned around and walked out of the bedroom, not saying a word.

“So what’s so funny?” Gabriel asked his cousins, coming out of the bedroom just behind Sam.

“Nothing. Cas was telling me how jittery you were this morning,” Anna said, twining her fingers with Charlie’s.

The older redhead was sitting on the arm chair of Anna’s seat. Charlie bent down and kissed the top of Anna’s head, then looked over at Sam, smiling widely.

Sam smiled back at his best friend, happier than he could express that things were working out for her.

“So,” Gabriel suddenly said, clapping his hands together, “it’s been an incredibly stressful day and, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m famished. Pizza or Chinese?”

A nearly-unanimous vote for Chinese and subsequent phone call later, the group settled in for a movie while they waited for their food. Two hours, eight carryout containers, and one B-rated movie later, everyone split up. Charlie and Anna, taking the opportunity to talk, made their way to Gabriel’s guest room.

Thirty minutes later, Sam peeked in to see if Charlie was ready to go. He found the two women passed out on the bed, a tangle of limbs and red hair. Making his way back to the living room, Sam motioned at Gabriel that he was leaving.

Gabriel, stuck under Cas’ head where his cousin had fallen asleep on him, quickly wriggled his way free and grabbed Sam’s hand. “Please stay.”

Two simple words, one huge sentiment.

Things felt so different from mere weeks ago, when they had both said such hurtful things to each other. With the night’s events in mind, Sam found himself agreeing. “Yeah, okay.”

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Sam towards his bedroom. When the taller man stopped at the door and quirked an eyebrow at his teacher, Gabriel shrugged. “Sorry, no vacancy. But you’re welcome to share my bed,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows. Sam chuckled, following the shorter man into the room.

Gabriel climbed on his bed and pulled Sam down, causing the both of them to fall backwards. A couple of chuckles later and Sam was closing the gap between their lips, passionately kissing his soulmate. Gabriel kissed back, a feeling of utter bliss filling him. He moved his hands to Sam’s hair, twining his fingers in it.

Sam, laying on top of his teacher, started grinding his body against Gabriel’s, needing some sort of friction as their kiss deepened. Gabriel let out a small moan, and Sam slipped his tongue inside the other man’s mouth. Gabriel’s taste - minty toothpaste and a hint of soy sauce - finally washed away the awful taste Sam had had in his mouth ever since the fight the two had a few weeks ago.

After a while, kissing wasn’t doing it for Sam, and the younger man moved his lips down to Gabriel’s neck, sucking at the soft flesh there. Gabriel felt powerless; the only thing he was capable of was exposing his neck further so Sam could have his way with it.

Sam’s hands moved down, going from cupping Gabriel’s face to unbuttoning his shirt. He moved his lips along, kissing the skin he revealed, while Gabriel wriggled under him, bucking his hips up and moaning lowly. Sam smiled against Gabriel’s tummy, while he reached further down and palmed the older man’s half-hard member, the denim of Gabriel’s pants getting in the way.

Suddenly, Gabriel pushed Sam off of him and sat up, his face set with determination.

“What? What’s wrong?” Sam said, heat flushing his face red.

“Nothing. I just… I want you to be sure,” Gabriel said, all of a sudden feeling shy.

“What do you mean?”

“I want you to be sure that this is what you want. This, now. _Me_ ,” he said quietly.

Sam smiled and shook his head, crawling towards Gabriel and looming over him. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind his soulmate’s ear, and bent down whispering in Gabriel’s ear. “There is nothing I want more,” he said, gently kissing the skin beneath his lover’s ear.

Gabriel sucked a breath in, feeling all the air leaving his lungs at Sam’s words. He grabbed the student by his shirt and pulled him back down, kissing him deeply and passionately. Sam let out a moan of surprise, allowing the older man to take the lead. Gabriel took the reins with relish, one hand sliding down Sam’s body to grip the younger man’s ass. His fingers sank into the flesh, hindered by Sam’s jeans, and urged Sam’s hips closer, causing them both to moan at the pressure.

Sam shuddered as lust flowed through him like a living thing, licking at nerve endings and settling in his gut. Feeling suddenly as if things were moving too slowly, he abruptly sat up and began stripping. “Need you. Now.”

Gabriel swallowed loudly at the picture Sam made, hair a wreck and hazel eyes blown with lust, stripping his clothes as quickly as his fingers would allow. A moment went by before the same hectic fever infected Gabriel, his own fingers stumbling through unbuttoning and unzipping and removing.

Naked, they came together in a frenzy, lips and teeth and hands going everywhere at once. Sam wasn’t sure how he ended up on his stomach, ass in the air with Gabriel’s fingers sliding wetly in and out, but it wasn’t like he was complaining. A few minutes of pure torture went by, Sam moaning and gasping at every new motion of Gabriel’s clever fingers.

Suddenly, a warm, wet appendage joined the fingers. Sam’s hand shot down to grip the base of his dick tightly, fireworks going off behind his eyes as Gabriel’s tongue slid in around Sam’s puffy rim. The older man groaned, sending sinful vibrations through Sam and nearly making him come on the spot.

“Gabe, please. Fuck I need you _in me_. Please, baby,” Sam begged, out of his mind with need. He didn’t register the pet names slipping from his lips, but Gabriel did.

For a moment, the teacher froze. Sam’s body began to undulate, seeking the pleasure it was being denied. Shaking the moment off, Gabriel worked his tongue in and out for a few more moments before making his way up Sam’s back, stopping off to nip at the exposed hip. Sam jerked away from him to jerk the bedside table drawer open, almost hitting Gabriel with the condom and bottle of lube he found there.

Gabriel snorted at his eagerness, but he made good use of both items. Within a minute, he was sliding into Sam, both of them gasping at the sensation. Gabriel bit his lip, staying still for a moment, helping Sam get used to his size as well as trying not to come just then.

Sam moaned and started moving his ass against Gabriel’s thighs, trying to edge him to move again. When Gabriel was finally able to swing his hips without any danger of early release, he snapped his hips, going all the way inside Sam’s ass and hitting his prostate on the way.

The student moaned loudly and quickly clasped a hand on his mouth, afraid of waking up the other people in the house. He arched his back further, his face now stuck against the mattress, allowing Gabriel more control of his ass.

“Jesus, kid! You’re too tight; you’re killing me,” Gabriel moaned out as he started thrusting in and out of Sam.

The teacher set a harsh pace, going all the way in and then out, teasing Sam out of his wits. With one hand, he grabbed the student’s hip, and the other slithered down Sam’s back, holding him down against the bed, asserting Gabriel’s dominance over the kid.

“Pl- please, Gabe. Please make me cum. I can’t, I- I can’t anymore,” Sam begged, almost out of breath, and teased to the edge of imploding.

“And he begs too,” Gabriel said with an evil smirk on his face.

“Oh, God. I’ll do anything, baby. Please, I’m begging you. Just make me cum,” Sam begged again, now fully aware of the begging kink his mate had.

Gabriel felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard Sam begging for release. It was almost too convincing. He started thrusting faster, still hitting Sam’s prostate with every move he made, making the younger man moan into the mattress.

“Gabe, please. I can’t, just,” Sam said before he realized he could make himself come on his own. He slid a hand down, letting go of the sheets that he had scrunched in his palms, and he grabbed his dick, pulling at it, edging his own release.

“No, no. I want you to come untouched. Can you do that for me, kiddo?” Gabriel asked, smirking evilly once again. This was the first time the two were having sex consciously and willingly, and Gabriel was surely going to take advantage of every second of it.

“I can do it, just make me come. Please!” Sam moaned out, removing his hand from his dick and taking back the scrunched up sheets into his palm.

Gabriel went all the way inside of Sam’s hole, he slowly slid his hands across the kid’s back, almost massaging him, while he thrust faster. His balls were smacking against Sam’s, the slap of skin on skin mixing with Sam’s moans and Gabriel’s grunts.

Suddenly, Gabriel felt his orgasm bubbling low in his abdomen. He stopped his motions, gripped the base of his dick and sucked in a deep breath. Sam wasn’t so happy with the loss of movement. He whined and started fucking himself on Gabriel’s cock. Surging back and forth, moaning loudly, he didn’t care who heard him anymore.

“Hey, kiddo. Gimme a second here,” Gabriel said, gasping for air as the sight of Sam fucking himself on his dick made him even closer to release.

“No. No more,” Sam said in a whiny tone. He kept going back and forth against Gabriel’s dick, gripping the sheets even tighter as the pleasure took over him, making him insane with lust.

“Sam! I’m really close here!” Gabriel warned.

Sam didn’t respond - he had one idea on his mind. He kept on going, going all the way back to the base of Gabriel’s cock before pulling away. When he felt his own orgasm was about to hit, he started going faster. Two thrusts in and Gabriel was already howling, throwing his head back and enjoying the release that was washing over him.

“Oh, Sam! Kid, you’re awesome! Oh my God, Sam! Fucking hell!” Gabriel moaned out, louder than he’d ever done.

Sam smiled as he kept fucking himself on his lover’s cock. He needed his own release, and as he promised Gabriel to come untouched, he refused to play with himself, as tempting as it was. He helped Gabriel ride his orgasm, and when the teacher took control of himself again, he gripped Sam’s hips and started thrusting harder and faster than ever.

“Shit! Gabe, I’m- Dammit! I’m coming, baby, I’m coming!” Sam screamed out as he felt his load shooting out of him, finally feeling the release he’d been craving for over twenty minutes.

Gabriel managed a few more thrusts before he all but collapsed on top of Sam. Rolling them to the side, he took Sam’s dick in his hand and pumped his soulmate’s cock, milking him for everything Sam was worth. Sam had his head buried in the mattress, moaning lowly and gasping for air.

As they slowly came down from their high, hearts returning to a normal rate and breath evening out, Sam sighed in contentment. His hand drifted down to tug Gabriel’s hand from his spent dick, tangling sticky fingers together and holding tightly as he fell into a sleepy, sated haze.

A short while later, he was barely aware of Gabriel leaving for a moment, only to return and clean them both up, prodding Sam into pulling on his boxers. With so many guests, it didn’t hurt to be prepared for sudden intrusions. Finally, the older man pulled on his own underwear, climbed into bed, and pulled a blanket over them both. Sam snuggled back into his lover’s embrace and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

 

Waking up the next morning, Sam rolled over and took in the sight of Gabriel, still sleeping beside him. He smiled softly and tugged the man towards him, snuggling against his hair and falling back to sleep, feeling the most blissful he’d felt in weeks.

A couple of hours later, the soulmates were woken by the sound of Charlie and Anna laughing and running around the house. Gabriel turned to face Sam and he smiled at him before going in for a good morning kiss.

“Good morning, sexy,” Gabriel said, kissing the tip of Sam’s nose.

“Mornin’, old man,” Sam said jokingly.

Suddenly the doors flew open and Charlie ran inside, jumping up on the bed. Anna soon followed her.

“Give it back!” Anna said loudly, chuckling while she talked.

“No way, geek!” Charlie said, hiding behind Sam, who was now sitting up in bed.

“What in God’s name is going on?” Gabriel asked, irritated at the interruption.

“Little miss ‘I’m too cool for school’ has her own replica of Tolkien’s One Ring!” Charlie crowed.

Sam and Gabriel both laughed, looking on as Charlie acted out the scene of Frodo’s first encounter with the ring.

“What’s happening?” Castiel sleepily asked as he walked in rubbing his eyes.

“Nothing.” Anna quickly said, before jumping on the bed and tackling Charlie.

All four soulmates were now huddled on the bed. Gabe, Sam and Charlie were trying to take the ring away from Anna, who had managed to yank it out of her soulmate’s hands. Laughter surrounded them, making their hearts light with the love that was nearly tangible in the air. Castiel eventually joined them on the bed, squishing his way between his sister and his cousin, falling back asleep surrounded in warmth and happiness.

It was a lovely morning for all of them, so happy and normal, something they could quickly become used to. Sam wished with all his heart that things could always stay so happy, all the while knowing deep down that it never could.


	7. Chapter 7

Reality set in on Monday. Sam walked into his classroom to see Kevin furiously filling out a form. “Hey, Kev, what’s up?”

“Graduation applications are due by Wednesday. If you don’t have them turned in, you don’t get a diploma. Do you know how angry my mom would be? No, I’m getting this done as quickly as I can.”

Sam, for his part, was still stuck on _graduation_. “I… I forgot it was so close.”

“Exactly. The sooner we get these turned in, the less we have to worry about.”

Unfortunately, Mr. Crowley did not share the sentiment. “You miserable sods who are graduating are in for the reality check of your lives. Bills, mortgages, awful jobs that pay less than you ever imagined you’d accept. If you thought my class was torture, you were wrong.”  An unusually intimidating look crossed the British man’s face. “No one in the history of torture's been tortured with torture like the torture you'll be tortured with.”

Silence reigned for long moments before someone near the back of the room coughed awkwardly. The teacher shook his head and seemed to return to himself. With an awkward cough himself, Crowley set to the day’s lecture. He explained that their last test had in truth been their final. Collective groans went up around the classroom, but a sharp look from Crowley silenced them.

“As I was saying, that was your final. Because I expect many of you did poorly, I will hold a make-up exam on Wednesday. As I am still in the process of grading your abysmal handwriting, grades will be released later this afternoon. If you will all excuse me, I shall return to that. Now, get the hell out of my classroom!”

Students scrambled to leave, but Sam was in a tailspin. He mechanically stuffed his things in his backpack, following Kevin’s lead. Things had _just_ gotten straightened out with Gabriel…

And now he was going to have to leave?

For a moment, Sam seriously contemplated giving up his dream of going to Stanford Law. But the little boy inside him - the one who had always dreamed of being a big-shot lawyer, the one who had goaded Sam’s way through AP classes in high school and through college - protested loudly.

_“All the years of hard work, of getting three hours of sleep a night to finish homework or a project, the sneers from Dad and Dean for being a bookworm - you can’t give it up now!”_

Sam sighed and gripped the strap of his backpack a bit tighter. But what about Gabriel?

_“What about him? He treated you like dirt for months, like little more than a scratching post when he had an itch, and you want to throw away your entire future on him?”_

But Sam had been a jerk right back! And they’d worked everything out…

Hadn’t they?

 _“Even if everything is totally hunky-dory now, you’ve been planning this for_ years _. And he’s a teacher! He can come to California, too, and teach there. If he doesn’t want to move, then it’s just not meant to be.”_

The voices warring in his mind kept Sam from noticing Kevin’s voice. Finally, after spending two minutes talking to a brick wall, Kevin rolled his eyes and shoved Sam. The taller student went crashing into a hedgebush.

“Shit, Sam, I’m sorry. I thought you’d catch yourself!” Kevin hurried to apologize as he helped Sam out of the bush.    

Sam got up and started adjusting his clothes, no anger showing on his face. He smiled at Kevin and shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ve been daydreaming in the middle of your conversation. I earned it.”

Kevin laughed and shook his head, saying, “Yeah, you kinda did.”

The two students laughed and walked away, heading for their next class. Luckily, Charlie took the same class, and Sam really needed to see his best friend. As soon as he walked through the door, his face lit up.

Charlie leaning against the window, texting and smiling like an idiot. She had never looked happier, and it made him sick to his stomach. He couldn’t help but wonder what he would be missing out on if he left now. He took a deep breath and walked over to the tiny redheaded girl.

“I see someone’s happy today,” Sam teased Charlie. He tried to sneak a peek at her phone, but she palmed his face and pushed him away before he could see anything.

“It’s private! And what? You got a problem with me being happy?” she asked. Her phone went off one more time and she squeaked a little.

“No, no. I’m glad you’re happy; one of us should be,” Sam replied, just as the teacher was walking into the classroom.

Everyone took their seats and so did Sam and Charlie, but not before the love struck girl looked suspiciously at her friend. The class ended quickly since the teacher had no more lectures to give. He had given them back their final tests, which Sam aced of course.

“Hey! What do you mean one of us should be happy? Why aren’t you happy?” Charlie asked as the two were stuffing their things in their backpacks.

“I don’t know, Charlie. It’s complicated,” Sam said in a weary tone.

Charlie rolled her eyes and sighed. She put her phone away, which was buzzing every few seconds. When the two were out of the classroom, she dragged Sam outside, standing somewhere a little more private than the crowded halls.

“What’s complicated? You and Gabriel are now together. You love him, he loves you. What’s the problem?” she asked.

Sam shrugged and looked away. “What about Stanford, Charlie?”

“What about it?”

“It’s like a million miles away! What? We’ll do long distance for four years?” Sam asked, his voice rising in his agitation.

Charlie looked as if she was hit by a lightning bolt. “ _Of course! Stanford, on the other side of the country. That’s not gonna work,”_ she thought to herself. On the surface, she had opened and closed her mouth so many times that by now, she was sucking all the oxygen from the air around them.

Sam just looked at her, a look of I-told-you-so on his face. Some part of him was glad that Charlie seemed to agree with him, even if she hadn’t said anything yet.

“Well, why don’t you ask him to move out there?” Charlie asked innocently.

“Oh, come on! What do I say? Please leave your life, family, career behind and come live with me? Not gonna happen, Charlie.”

“He might! You two are soulmates! He _is_ your family now. Sam, you’ll never know unless you ask him,” Charlie said quietly.

Hoping to change the subject, Sam asked quickly, “What about you? How are you and Anna going to work things out with you graduating, too?”

Charlie smiled and answered, “I’m getting an apartment off campus, and she’s moving in with me. She graduates next year, but we haven’t talked about what we’ll do after that.”

“That’s great, Charlie,” Sam said, forcing a smile. It seemed like everything was falling into place for Charlie, while everything was falling apart for Sam. He was saved from forcing a happy front any further by an alert going off on his phone. A frown crossed his face as he pulled the device from his pocket and checked the alert.

It was from his advisor.

“What is it?” Charlie asked, seeing the frozen look on Sam’s face.

“I got the scholarship to Stanford…”

* * *

 

Sam walked slowly to Gabriel’s apartment, dreading the looming conversation. What was he going to even say? It’s been fun, but I’m off to California? Either way, Gabriel was going to hate him.

Again.

Sam swallowed tightly and readjusted his backpack. He wasn’t going to be a pansy about this - this was his future! Gabriel would understand. And if he didn’t, that said everything Sam needed to know. Determination filled him, and Sam made it to the four-story apartment building in record time. He bounded up the stairs and landed in front of Gabriel’s door, bouncing lightly on his toes as he knocked.

The door swung open.

Sam stared down at Gabriel’s surprised face.

“Hey. Not that I’m not glad to see your gorgeous face, but what are you doing here? Don’t you have any classes?” Gabriel asked. He moved away from the door and gestured for Sam to come inside.

“I... I do. I just needed to see you,” Sam replied, tears beginning to burn his eyes. He walked inside and looked around the apartment as if it was the last time he was going to be there.

Gabriel closed the door and put his hand on Sam’s shoulder, turning him around. “What’s wrong, Samshine?” he asked, worry wracking his nerves. They had just gotten together, and he couldn’t bear another fight or separation.

Sam didn’t say a word, he just hugged Gabriel tightly. The dam burst loose, and Sam began to cry on his shoulder. He breathed in Gabriel’s scent and held him tighter as his tears moistened the shorter man’s shirt.

“Hey, hey, what is it kiddo? What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked. He was trying to put on a brave face, but just seeing Sam so crushed made him want to cry as well.

“I got my scholarship,” Sam said into Gabriel’s shoulder. He moved away and wiped his tears with his sleeves.

Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Well that’s good news, you numbnuts! You had me worried!”

“My scholarship is for Stanford, Gabe. I’m moving to California.” Sam said hesitantly. He walked away and stared out the window for a minute before he sat on the couch and looked up at Gabriel, who was still standing in place.

“Oh.” Gabriel blinked and realization set in. “ _Oh_. Well, shit, kiddo. Hell of a time for all this, then, huh?” he asked. Huffing out his breath, the teacher moved to sit beside Sam. The dejected, kicked-puppy look on his face tugged at Gabriel’s heart. “I’m sure you’ll do great at Stanford.”

Sam’s head jerked up. “You’re not mad?”

“Of course I’m not mad, Sam. I won’t stand in the way of your future,” Gabriel said softly, all the while wondering how to broach the subject of moving with him.

Unbeknownst to him, Sam was wondering the same thing. Before he could bring it up, Gabriel spoke again.

“Look, I’m not gonna say that this doesn’t suck ass. It does. But I could never stand in the way of your education, your future. We’re just gonna have to make good of the time we have left together. We’ll make these the best couple of days of our lives.”

Sam’s heart started pounding louder and faster. On one hand, he wanted to blurt out the words “ _I love you”_ and on the other, he wanted to ask Gabriel if he would move to California with him. He wanted to say both, to profess his love as loud as possible, and then ask Gabriel to marry him and move. Reality came knocking him down when Gabriel just got up and started pacing the floor.

“I mean, I know we’re soulmates, but who says you can’t find someone else in California? Anyone would be lucky to have you, kid,” Gabriel forced himself to say.

He was already jealous out of his mind, knowing that Sam was probably going to be with someone else. His heart was already breaking, and he kept pushing his tears down, not wanting to show Sam his sadness.

Sam felt as if the breath was knocked out of his chest. Those words were what he needed to hear, to know that there was no way Gabriel would move to California. He sucked in a deep, shuddering breath and stood on wobbly legs. “Right. Lots of fish out there, big sea and all that. Well, I need to head out. Gotta call my brother and tell him the big news.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel added awkwardly, “I have a late class to teach here in a bit.”

The two said goodbye, and both felt like they were dying on the inside as the distance between them increased. Sam bypassed his dorm entirely, heading straight to Charlie’s instead. He knocked on her door, half out of his mind with grief and hurt.

“Sam?” Charlie prodded after a few moments of silence. She’d opened the door, but Sam didn’t seem to have noticed. “Sam, what’s wrong?”

“He wants me to find someone else,” Sam said numbly. “I was… I was going to ask him to come with me, but he doesn’t want me.”

“Sam, that can’t be right!” Charlie argued. “You guys were so great together all weekend!”

Suddenly angry, Sam snarled, “Well I guess that doesn’t matter now!”

Before Charlie could react to his anger, Sam became morose once more.

“Am I that unimportant? Why wouldn’t he want to fight for me, Charlie?”

The redhead sighed sadly and finally drew her tall friend into her room. She led him to her bed and poked and prodded until he sat down. “Maybe he was just shocked and didn’t know how to react.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Sam said. “Once I leave, he’ll find someone else and I’ll never hear from him again.” He seemed to curl in on himself at that, ending up on his side with his head on Charlie’s pillow. His eyes closed, and Charlie could see tears leaking out from under his eyelids.

“Don’t say that! Sam, he loves you. I saw it all weekend. Just give him another chance, okay?” Charlie pleaded softly.

“I don’t know,” Sam said hesitantly.

“I know you love him, too,” the redhead wheedled. “Don’t give up just yet.”

Silence reigned between them until finally, Charlie looked over at Sam to say something. The words died on her lips when she saw that Sam was asleep. With a soft smile, she grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and covered her friend. Thankful that she had a double room to herself, she grabbed another blanket and curled up on the extra bed across the room.

Maybe tomorrow would be better.

* * *

 

When Sam awoke, he blinked blearily at his surroundings. He didn’t know where he was, though the room did look vaguely familiar. A soft snore from across the room drew his attention. Charlie was sprawled across the spare bed, mouth open. Sam snorted a laugh before stretching his long limbs.

Feeling rather well-rested for how stressful the day before had been, Sam reached around for his phone. Missed texts from Kevin and a missed call from Dean had him cursing and sitting up abruptly. Hurriedly texting Kevin and letting him know where he was, Sam then focused on Dean. Casting a glance at Charlie’s sleeping form, he stood and slipped outside to dial Dean’s number.

“Hey, Dean,” he said as his big brother picked up the phone.

“Where the hell have you been, bitch?” came the terse reply.

“Sorry, I was freaking out and went to Charlie’s dorm. Fell asleep there.”

“Freaking out about what? Finally realize you’re in over your head?” Dean asked sarcastically.

“Dean,” Sam said seriously, “I got the scholarship to Stanford.”

“Well of course you did, moron!” Dean immediately replied. “Seriously, I’m proud of you, Sammy.”

“Thanks, Dean,” Sam said quietly. It always meant a lot when his brother said those words. More so than it had ever meant when their father said them. “How, uh. How’s Dad?”

An awkward cough echoed over the line. “He’s okay. Drinking a lot more lately, but what else is new?”

Sam felt a stab of guilt at Dean’s words. “I’m sorry, Dean. I shouldn’t have left like I did.”

But Dean simply brushed his words off. “Dude, it’s fine. Dad was going to freak either way. At least one of us got free.”

“But still,” Sam protested. “I should have said bye instead of taking off in the middle of the night. I left you to deal with the fallout.”

“What’s got you bringing up old news all of a sudden? I forgave and forgot all that a long time ago. Even Dad’s been asking about you the past few months.”

Sam’s voice cracked when he asked, “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Dean said softly. “I’m telling you, every time I tell him you made the Dean’s list or got some new scholarship offer, you should see the way he tries to hide how proud he is. Always blusters about how smart you always were, you little shit. We’re both really proud of you.”

Sam resolutely refused to cry. The words coming from Dean were things he’d been desperate to hear for the last two years. The timing of this coming up now - when Sam was debating between his education and his love life - was too big of a coincidence to ignore.

A surge of righteousness filled him. _This_ was exactly what he needed to make his decision. As much as Sam loved Gabriel, he knew that taking the scholarship and going to Stanford was the right choice.

He could only hope that Gabriel would still be there when he returned.

“-am? _Sam_!”

“Oh, sorry, Dean. I was lost in thought,” Sam quickly apologized.

“Yeah, whatever. Look, I gotta run. My break’s almost over and Bobby’s actually really strict about that shit. I’ll text you later, bitch.”

“Okay. Bye, jerk.”

With a new sense of purpose, Sam headed to the administration building. His advisor was free, so he sat down with the man and spoke at length about his plan to go to Stanford as quickly as he could after graduation.

The two went about getting Sam registered for his classes, setting up his dorm room, and even applied for a work-study program. When Sam left the building nearly an hour later, the only thing he had left to do was actually make his way to Stanford.

This was solved easily by Charlie. Sam had headed to his friend’s dorm after leaving his advisor, and the redhead had quickly set to finding Sam the cheapest plane ticket she could find him. Within ten minutes, she sat back happily and proclaimed, “There! Seventy dollars flat.”

“Charlie, that’s amazing!” Sam exclaimed.

“I know,” the hacker said smugly. Sobering, she asked, “Sam, are you sure this is what you want?”

“I’m absolutely sure. And if Gabriel can’t see that this is something I need to do, then that’s that. I’m not leaving to find someone else. I’m leaving to fulfill my dreams. I doubt I’d find anyone like Gabriel, anyways.”

“Either way, I know this isn’t easy for you. I wish I could come with you!”

Sam laughed. “Charlie, that would be awesome, but you have your own thing going here. You and Anna are getting closer every day, already making plans for the future. I could never ask you to put that aside for me. Besides, I’ll be too busy with classes to worry about missing anyone much.”

The two spoke for a while longer before Sam finally headed to his own dorm. Excitement bubbled up, his stomach fluttering with butterflies. He was really doing this! As long as he could remember, he’d wanted to be a lawyer.

Not quite as glorious as most kids’ dreams of firefighter or astronaut, but Sam had always been drawn to the profession. And now, finally, he was going to be one.

(Well, in a few years, at least.)

Laying down in his bed, Sam drifted off to the imaginings of walking across the stage at Stanford, hearing his name called out to accept his diploma. In the audience, cheering him on, were his loved ones - Dean and Dad, of course, as well as Charlie and Anna, Kevin, and Andy.

But cheering the loudest, with a ring on his finger, was Gabriel.

* * *

 

After Sam left his apartment, Gabriel moped for the rest of the day.

Having lied about teaching that late class, he had plenty of time to do so.

After watching _The Notebook_ and _P.S. I Love You_ twice - apiece, mind you - he’d finally drifted to his bedroom, where he lay in a morose pile on his bed. Every few minutes, he moved his head to better get a whiff of Sam’s cologne.

His phone ringing incessantly finally roused him. Cas, calling to see if he was hungry. Gabriel simply grunted at his cousin and hung up the phone.

Twenty minutes later, the blue-eyed man let himself into Gabriel’s apartment. Gabriel was all set to bitch at him until he noticed the carry-out bags the younger man carried.

In silence, they divvied the food and began to eat, watching nothing in particular on TV. Finally, Cas spoke.

“Why are you so despondent?”

Gabriel laughed sharply, poking at the remainder of his food. “You never were one to pussyfoot around.” With a sigh, he placed his plate on the coffee table. “Sam’s moving to California.”

Cas blinked. A moment passed before he finally said, “And you are not going with him.”

“How can I? I’m less than a year away from tenure here, plus I want to start looking out for Anna better. I can’t believe I was so caught up in my own shit that I didn’t realize how far down the rabbit hole she’d gotten.”

“I don’t blame you for that, Gabriel, and I highly doubt she does either. Without you, she would have never accepted her soulmate.”

Gabriel scoffed. “I’m not that special, Cas,” he denied.

Seeing that he wouldn’t get through to his cousin, Cas simply inclined his head and continued eating. A while later, the two parted ways. Castiel went home, where he contemplated his own black tattoo. Gabriel went back to his bedroom, where he fell into bed and didn’t move.

* * *

 

For the next two days, Sam and Gabriel made pains to avoid each other. As classes were officially over, it made things so much easier. Sam was caught up in preparing, mentally and physically, for graduation. Gabriel occupied his time by attempting to write out a semblance of lesson plans for the short summer semester.

By Thursday, both men were desperate to see the other, but just as desperate to be strong. Sam found himself in the auditorium where graduation was to be held, feeling jittery and exhausted at the same time. He knew that Gabriel would be there that night, as would all the teachers.

Before he knew it, it was time to walk across the stage. He wasn’t too very nervous, since his family wasn’t going to be there. The worst part about the night was going to be seeing Gabriel. He’d seen the teacher – accompanied by the other teachers of the college – proceed inside and to the seats sectioned off for the faculty. Now, names were being called to prompt students across the stage.

As the names dwindled from _A_ s to _U_ s and _V_ s, Sam felt his hands begin to sweat. In walking across the stage, he would have to walk in front of Gabriel. He could only hope that he didn’t trip in front of everyone. When his name was called, trailed by the honor signifier _summa cum laude_ , Sam thought his heart would stop. He took the first step across the stage, then the next, finding each step easier than the last. Thankfully, he didn’t stumble as he made his away across the stage and accepted his diploma from Chuck Shurley himself, an honor saved for the students graduating with the highest GPAs. Sitting back in his seat, Sam tried to keep his eyes from drifting to Gabriel’s form every few seconds.

He was only partially successful.

Later that night, after Sam and his friends had had a round or two at the Roadhouse, Sam noticed Gabriel sitting alone in a booth at the back of the bar. He slid off his stool and walked over.

“Hey, mind if I sit?” he asked quietly.

Gabriel, nursing the same beer he’d bought nearly an hour earlier, nodded and waved at the seat. “Sure, kiddo. What’s up?”

“I just… I wanted to talk about Stanford.”

“I bet you’re all kinds of excited, huh?” the teacher asked with a forced smile.

Sam forced a smile in return and said, “Yeah, pretty much, but that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?” Gabriel asked distractedly.

“Gabriel, I wanted to tell you that I’m not leaving because of you. I’m leaving _for_ me. This is something I’ve dreamt about since I was a kid. I couldn’t pass that up,” Sam explained.

“You’re not… You’re not leaving to get away from me?” Gabriel asked in a small voice.

“Of course not! I do really like you, Gabe. I just can’t give this up.”

“I get that. I really do. But what about this?” the older man asked with a hand motion between them.

Sam sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’d be fair for either of us to be in a long-distance relationship for the years it’s going to take me to get through with school.”

“Yeah, I figured. To be honest, I’m not really sure I’d be cut out for that, either. Even during a dry spell, at least I have the _option_ of getting some,” Gabriel attempted to joke. Instead, Sam simply seemed to deflate at his words. “Shit, sorry. I fall back to being a dick when I’m mopey.”

“It’s fine. It’s the least I deserve for putting you through this. I can’t really be upset if you want to find someone else, since I’m the one leaving.”

Gabriel bit his tongue to keep from blurting that he had no intention of finding anyone else once Sam was gone. Instead, he drained his lukewarm beer, grimacing at the taste, and held out a hand to Sam. “What do you say we blow this joint? One last night, for old times’ sake?”

Sam smiled, though it was bittersweet. “Yeah, I can agree to that.”

* * *

 

The walk back to Gabriel’s apartment was leisurely. The two held hands, soaking in the moment while they could. They talked about nothing the whole way, random things they pointed out to each other as they walked.

Back at Gabriel’s, the slow, simmering feeling continued. Inside, Sam pushed Gabriel gently against a wall and pressed their lips together. For a long time, they simply kissed, fingers tracing each other’s faces and trying to memorize each wrinkle and mark on there.

Finally, wanting to up the ante, Sam lightly bit Gabriel’s bottom lip. Gabriel’s fingers gripped tightly to Sam’s shoulders, holding him close as the shorter man retaliated in kind. Sam moaned as Gabriel’s teeth grazed his lip, followed quickly by the wet swipe of his tongue.

Fire licked low in Sam’s belly as things became more passionate. He moved away and gently pulled Gabriel by the hand, guiding him to the bedroom.

“Sam,” Gabriel spoke softly.

The student turned around and smiled down at his soulmate. “Yes?”

Gabriel hesitated, and at the last second changed his mind and instead, he stepped closer to Sam and kissed him gently. “I want you,” he whispered against Sam’s lips.

Sam smiled wider and took his lover in his arms before lifting him up to his level. They kissed again, this time with more passion than ever. Sam walked over to the bed and gently put Gabriel down, climbing on top of him and unbuttoning the older man’s shirt.

As soon as the shirt was open, Sam bent down and planted a kiss on Gabriel’s lips before moving down to his neck, licking and gently sucking on it.

Gabriel moaned in pleasure and started slowly grinding against Sam’s body.

The student didn’t spend too much time on his lover’s neck. He started kissing his way down to Gabriel’s belly, mumbling praise against the other man’s skin. His hands slowly traced over Gabe’s body, eventually settling on his pants.

“Someone’s in a hurry,” Gabriel joked, earning himself a bite on his love handles, which made him hiss in pleasure.

Sam straightened up and looked down at his lover’s body, admiring it and memorizing every curve. “Shut up and let me take care of you.” He slowly pulled Gabriel’s pants and underwear down, then bent down and started licking at his lover’s dick, lingering at the tip of it, sucking in the precum which was dripping out by the time he had gotten to it.

“Jesus, Sammy!” Gabriel moaned out as he twined his fingers in Sam’s hair, pulling at it.

Sam’s hands, which were resting on the other man’s belly, made their way down to his lover’s ball sac, fondling it and edging Gabriel just a little closer. It wasn’t long before he guided his long fingers down to Gabriel’s hole, teasing the opening, making Gabriel shudder.

“Fuck yeah!” Gabriel exclaimed, once he felt the tip of Sam’s finger pushing inside.

Sam continued sucking on his soulmate’s dick, holding it in place with one hand while he slowly fingered Gabriel’s tight hole, earning himself many moans and mumbled words from Gabriel.

Gabriel was a complete mess; he had his fingers in Sam’s hair pulling at it and pushing him further down on his cock. When he felt the tip of a second finger pushing at his entrance alongside the first, he couldn’t help but buck up and slowly start thrusting into Sam’s mouth.

“Oh God, Sam! You’re so good, you’re perfect, baby,” he managed to moan out, but his words quickly turned to gibberish when he felt Sam deep throating him and slowly swallowing around his dick.

He picked up the pace of his thrusts and was now fucking Sam’s mouth, pushing him down on his cock, while Sam fingered him deep and slow. It wasn’t long before Gabriel began to feel his orgasm bubbling in his lower belly.

“Fucking hell, you’re gonna make me come in your mouth, kid!” Gabriel exclaimed.

As soon as Sam heard that statement, he started fingering Gabriel faster and deeper. He took his lover’s cock deep in his mouth and used his tongue to swipe over the tip, just as Gabriel was releasing himself.

“Holy mother of… Dammit, Sam!” Gabriel moaned. He threw his head back, enjoying his orgasm as it washed over him.

Once every drop of liquid had been milked from Gabriel’s body, Sam moved away, slowly pulling his fingers out of Gabriel’s hole. He kissed the tip of his lover’s cock and kept kissing his way up until he reached Gabriel’s neck. He nuzzled him, pressing gentle kisses to the soft skin, waiting for Gabriel to come down from his high.

“Happy?” Sam asked, his head buried in the crook of Gabriel’s neck.

“Happy? That was… Heavenly!” Gabriel replied. He was out of breath and struggling for words.

Sam laughed and pressed kisses to the skin nearest his mouth. “Well, if you’re up for another round, I’d like to see what it’s _really_ like to be inside you,” he said as he rubbed his still-hard dick against Gabriel.

A moan bubbled out of Gabriel as he imagined feeling Sam inside him. “Fuck yes, kiddo. Just gimme a minute.” While the older man caught his breath from their first round, he took great pleasure in teasing Sam with just his hands. One hand was wrapped firmly around Sam’s dick, slowly stroking it with twisting motions as the other hand reached behind him to grope Sam’s very nice ass. Every once in awhile, Gabriel’s fingers would dip down to tease at Sam’s own entrance, causing the younger man to buck his hips forward.

Sam finally got in on the action, bringing his hand down to once more tease at the opening he would very soon be entering. Gabriel moaned at the feeling of Sam’s long fingers inside him, but he just couldn’t help but want _more_. Unfortunately, Sam didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Attempting to spur him on, Gabriel tightened his muscles around Sam’s fingers. At the same time, he tightened his own fingers around Sam’s dick and increased their pace.

Sam moaned and jerked his hips, nearly losing his mind to the pleasure. Shaking with need, he pulled away from Gabriel’s talented fingers and reached for the condom and lube beside the bed. He drizzled some of the liquid onto the fingers still inside his lover, using them to help spread it inside and around. A hiss and moan from Gabriel had the younger man grinning triumphantly as he added a third finger.

Gabriel was well on his way back to being hard, but it just _wasn’t enough_. With desperation, he snatched up the condom and ripped it open before rolling it onto Sam’s length with shaking fingers. “Please, Sam. I _need_ you. Now!”

Sam shuddered as he drew his fingers away from Gabriel’s body, needing the other man just as badly. He quickly poured more lube onto his condom-covered dick, as well as a bit more directly onto Gabriel’s entrance, before bringing the swollen head up to bear against the opening.

As he entered Gabriel for the first time, Sam swore he saw stars. While he was by no means a virgin, he’d only ever been with girls or been on the receiving end of being with guys. This was a whole new experience, and he was incredibly glad that it was with Gabriel.

After that, there wasn’t much thought beyond _fucksotightloveyouneedyouMORE!_

Gabriel wasn’t faring much better. Sam was one of the biggest men he’d ever been with, and it was taking everything in him not to fucking _cry_ at how perfect the younger man fit inside Gabriel. As it was, fingers were desperately clutching anywhere they could find a hold. His legs came up around Sam’s slim hips, heels digging in and spurring him on.

Faster and harder, Sam kept pounding into Gabriel. Both of them were crying out with pleasure, out of their minds with how great it felt. Suddenly, Sam shifted and Gabriel _screamed_ as Sam’s dick jabbed into his prostate. Every thrust after had the length of Sam’s dick brushing against the gland, sending Gabriel into a blubbering, stuttering mess as he tightened around Sam almost to the point of pain.

Sam cried out as Gabriel bit down on his shoulder, the mix of pleasure and pain sending him over the edge. Gabriel felt the pulsing of Sam’s release inside his body, pushing him that last little bit he needed to fall over the edge as well. They collapsed into a heap of gasping breaths and pounding hearts.

Finally, Sam pulled out of Gabriel and stumbled to the bathroom to clean up. Gabriel groaned and rolled over, already missing having Sam inside him. A few minutes later, Sam came back and slid into bed, coming right up behind Gabriel and wrapping his arm around the smaller man.

They were asleep in moments.

The next morning, Gabriel was woken by the insistent prodding of Sam’s morning wood humping into his ass. Immediately feeling the stirring of his own desire, Gabriel tilted his hips, arching back into the motion.

Within moments, Gabriel came up with a brilliant idea.

Sam, still dead asleep, never knew what hit him.

Gabriel, through lots of wriggling and finagling, finally positioned them both in the perfect position. He pushed Sam onto his back and knelt over the younger man. With deft fingers and a swift motion, Gabriel impaled himself on Sam’s bare erection. Sam came alive immediately, fingers gripping tightly to Gabriel’s hips as his back bowed, sending his dick even further into Gabriel.

The teacher moaned as Sam hit new places inside that hadn’t been touched the night before. His fingers gripped his own dick tightly, not willing to lose it just yet. He was enjoying this entirely too much.

Sam, finally awake, grunted as he readjusted a bit. His feet braced on the mattress, he lifted his hips into the air - and Gabriel with them - before pulling back and jackhammering into Gabriel’s more than willing body.

The pace, angle, and harshness of the thrusts had Gabriel on the verge of coming nearly immediately. He held on, however, until the last minute.

Already on the edge, Sam didn’t last very before he jerked Gabriel’s hips down harshly as he jerked his own up, releasing his seed inside of Gabriel.

The sensation shocked Gabriel into his own orgasm, his own seed spurting onto his abdomen and chest. “Oh, god,” he moaned, his head thrown back. Aftershocks had him shuddering every few seconds, causing him to tighten around Sam and milk even more cum from him.

Sam let his feet slowly slide down the mattress, bringing Gabriel down as his hips lowered to the bed. They both moaned at the different sensations caused by the moving, Sam’s still-hard dick prodding inside of Gabriel. They stayed there until Sam finally softened and slipped from Gabriel’s body, followed by strands of creamy, white cum.

“I’ve never understood the fascination with the creampie section of porn sites until now,” Sam whispered, his eyes glued to the sight of his seed leaking from Gabriel.

“As awesome as it felt going in, it feels really weird coming out. Be a prince and carry me to the shower?” Gabriel asked.

Sam laughed and wiggled out from under Gabriel before picking him up bridal style. “Of course, princess.”

Gabriel glared, irritated at the nickname, but let it go as they entered the shower stall. For the next hour, they used up all the hot water and drove each other mad with wandering hands and invading fingers, until Gabriel had Sam pinned against the wall and attempted to fuck him.

“You’re too tall!” he complained.

Sam responded by dropping to his hands and knees and waving his ass back and forth, a seductive expression aimed back at Gabriel.

“Now _this,_ I can get behind,” he joked, dropping down as well and lining up.

Rolling his eyes at the pun, Sam retaliated by jerking backward and taking Gabriel inside in one fell swoop. Gabriel moaned at the sudden move, the feeling of being buried deeply inside his lover.

Still recovering somewhat from their earlier romp, it took longer than usual for them both to get off, but they enjoyed every second of the ride. Once they’d caught their breath and stood on shaky legs to rinse off, the soulmates meandered back to Gabriel’s room and collapsed on the bed.

Sam propped up on his elbow to simply gaze down at Gabriel’s relaxed face. It hit him how much he loved this man, and how much he was going to miss him. A vise squeezed his heart and he quickly fell onto his back, staring up at the ceiling and thanking the stars that Gabriel’s eyes were closed so that he didn’t see the tears shining in Sam’s.

A while later, after Sam had regained control of himself, he stood to get dressed.

“Where you going, kiddo?” Gabriel questioned, sitting up to watch Sam.

“I have to get back to my dorm. I leave tomorrow, so I have to get everything packed up,” Sam said quietly.

“Oh,” Gabriel said, just as quiet. “Well, let me cook you breakfast first.”

Sam smiled, though it was more than a little sad. “Okay,” he agreed.

An hour later, he stood in the door of Gabriel’s apartment and willed himself to stay strong as he leaned down to press a kiss to Gabriel’s lips. The kiss turned bittersweet quickly, and Sam abruptly jerked back before he could start crying. “I’m going to miss you, Gabriel,” he said, voice cracking slightly.

“I’ll miss you, too, kiddo. Now go. Call me when you’re a bigshot lawyer, okay?”

“I will,” Sam said determinedly before he turned to walk away.

Gabriel felt his heart cracking in two.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, lovelies!

Leaving Ohio that Saturday was the hardest thing Sam had ever done. Worse than leaving home to move to Ohio in the first place. More painful than nearly coming to blows with Dean over a fight with their dad.

As the taxi pulled away from the curb, Sam stared back at the campus and waved sadly to Charlie, Anna, and Andy. Kevin had already left to go back home, and Gabriel had said his goodbyes the day before. Thinking back to that amazing night, Sam was hard-pressed not to cry.

But this was for his future. This was so that, one day, he could come back and actually be happy with Gabriel. As he settled in for the long flight, Sam could only hope that time would fly by.

And fly by, it did. Six months passed in the blink of an eye. Sam had finished up his pre-requisite classes over the summer, and he was now enrolled in the Law program. The work was harder than anything he’d tackled before, but Sam relished the challenge.

He flourished in a way that he’d never done before. Eventually, he caught the eye of an art student. For the first few weeks after they met, Sam had no clue that Jess was interested in him. Still hung up on his feelings for Gabriel, he was mostly oblivious to romantic things.

Jess, tired of him being thickheaded, took the initiative. One night, as they and a group of friends were headed to a Halloween party, the blonde pulled Sam into a dark corner and kissed him.

When Sam’s faculties began working once more, he immediately felt guilt wash over him. Stumbling through an excuse, he quickly slipped away and high-tailed it back to his dorm. He spent the weekend in a confused mess of emotions, texting Charlie and just trying to work through his own mind.

He’d even texted Gabriel for the first time in months, but received no reply.

After some gentle encouragement from his best friend, Sam approached Jess on Monday morning and shyly apologized for his abrupt departure that night.

Less than a week later, they were dating. Sam still felt odd twinges of guilt, but they were becoming fewer and farther between. One day, as Sam dressed for class, he caught sight of his chest in the mirror. His blood froze in his veins as he took in the grey, ashy scrawl across his collarbone.

His tattoo was fading.

* * *

 

When Sam left, Gabriel made a valiant effort to move on with his life. The problem with that, as he quickly discovered, was that everything reminded him of Sam.

The Roadhouse, where they began their journey. The classroom, where he’d secretly enjoyed being such a dick to the studious younger man. His own apartment was torture, as every room held some memory or another.

Gabriel had taken to sleeping on the couch in desperation. His bed was too painful, especially after that last night with Sam. Despite needing the money, Gabriel took the summer off of teaching, intending to get his head on straight for fall classes.

Instead, he’d slipped further and further into a rut of missing Sam. But, for the most part, Gabriel could have survived with just that pain. He’d sometimes go a few days without eating, prompting Castiel to threaten bodily harm if Gabriel didn’t eat, but he was mostly doing okay.

That changed one day, late into the fall. Having pulled himself together enough to at least half-assedly teach his classes, Gabriel had done a great job of fooling most everyone that he was fine. Halloween came and went, and Gabriel finally decided that he needed to get laid. The weekend before Thanksgiving, he went out for just that purpose.

Only, things didn’t go nearly as well as he’d hoped. The man he brought back to his apartment was nothing like Sam, which had been precisely why Gabriel had picked him. As the man rolled Gabriel onto his front, he drew back in disgust.

“Ugh. You need to get this thing looked at. It’s looking pretty bad. Whoever did it gypped you, bad,” the meathead told him.

“What?” Gabriel asked, confused.

“Your tattoo. Never seen one do that. Might be infected.”

Time froze. Gabriel lay there for a moment, trying to understand. When it finally clicked, he scrambled from the bed and bolted to the bathroom, nearly breaking his back trying to look at the tattoo of Sam’s name.

The man was right. Where before the script had been beautiful and elegant, neatly inked (magically, of course) in the darkest black, it was now an ashy, faded grey color. As his fingers traced over it, brushing the light-colored scar from his attempt to cut it off, bits of ink seemed to flake off and fall to the floor.

“I’m just gonna let myself out,” he heard from behind him. The man he’d brought back for a one-night stand was in the doorway, looking awkward.

Gabriel nodded, feeling as though he were moving through Jell-O. Everything was disjointed. He distantly heard the door shut as the man left, and that was the last thing he knew.

Hours later, Castiel stopped by. He’d been worried about Gabriel for weeks, but that worry had suddenly spiked. Not one to question things like that, he’d jumped in his car and headed straight over. He found Gabriel lying in the fetal position in his bathroom, staring blankly at nothing.

Cas tried to get Gabriel back on his feet. He spent days locked up with the older man at his apartment, trying hard to bully him into eat something. Eventually, Anna caught wind and decided it was time for herself and Charlie to intervene.

A knock at the door sent Gabriel’s heart thumping fast and loud. Some part of him wished it would be Sam running back to him. He had never felt as guilty as when he wished his soulmate would fail at Stanford and come back to him.

Charlie’s voice shook him out of his guilt trip. “Heya, Gabe!”

Gabriel looked up at the redhead and nodded a greeting.

“What’s up, cuz? What’s gotten you on the down side?” Anna said, in an attempt to cheer him up.

Gabriel shrugged and turned to stare blankly at the wall.

Castiel shook his head and went to sit next to his cousin. “His tattoo is fading, and he’s freaking out about it.”

“Oh,” Charlie blurted, feeling somewhat guilty for knowing Sam was dating someone else.

Anna sat at the other end of the bed, taking Gabriel’s head in her lap and caressing his hair. She was always a loving person, and Charlie loved her for it.

“C’mon Gabe! You gotta pull yourself together, move on. Sam did, and now it’s your turn!” Charlie said. A moment later, she gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Anna’s eyes shot straight at her soulmate, and if looks could kill, Charlie would have been dead already. The redheaded girl looked at both Anna and Cas, who were staring angrily at her, and she mouthed, _“I’m sorry.”_

The news didn’t seem to shake Gabriel at all, since he didn’t react to Charlie’s words. Soon, Anna felt something warm seeping through her pants. She looked down and found Gabriel silently crying.

“Oh, Gabe. Please don’t cry. She’s not even that hot!” Charlie said, trying to fix things.

Anna looked back at her soulmate and snarled, “Charlie, please just stop.”

For the next few weeks, Gabriel fell even deeper into the hole. He stopped eating altogether, only drinking scotch and listening to all sorts of depressing songs.

Castiel tried his best to care for his cousin. He force fed him some days, and others he just let him be. It wasn’t something he could fix, and he figured he would be in the same boat if he ever met this Dean W. guy and had to lose him like that.

* * *

 

Back in Stanford, Sam was doing better than he had ever expected. He was top of his class, every teacher adored him, and he excelled at every assignment. The only department in which Sam failed miserably at was making Jess happy.

Jessica Moore was a very smart girl, and it didn’t take someone as smart as she was to figure out that Sam was never going to love her the way he loved this Gabriel M. guy.

One morning, when Sam was getting ready for classes, Jess barged in on him, unable to control her bladder anymore. She froze in place when she saw Sam standing in front of the mirror, his fingers absently tracing the fading tattoo on his chest as he brushed his teeth.

The sound of the door banging open startled Sam, and he whirled around, half naked, before trying to explain himself to his girlfriend.

He opened his mouth and shut it a couple of times, words failing him, before Jessica interrupted him. “Don’t say anything Sam. Look, I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now. Just lemme pee first!” she said jokingly.

Sam trudged from the bathroom and went to sit at the edge of his bed, waiting for Jessica’s talk.

“Sammy, I know you’ve been trying hard to get over someone for the past few months,” she started as she walked from the bathroom to sit next to Sam.

She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “I have a soulmate that I’m trying to get over as well, and I know it’s hard. God knows how many nights I cry myself to sleep, just thinking about how things would have been different with him.” She pushed back the tears that were burning her eyes and continued. “But I think we both need to take some time to do that, and not be involved with anyone else. I mean, you are clearly still in love with Gabriel, and even though I know nothing about him, knowing you love him this much must mean he’s pretty special.”

Sam turned to look at her, tears spilling over his lashes at the motion. Jess wiped his tears away. “I know it’s not my place, but I really think you two should be together.”

Sam protested, “He doesn’t want me, Jess.”

“I’m sure that’s not true, but I won’t argue. You know what’s best for you and your soulmate. And I know what’s best for me. As much as I wish differently, this - us - isn’t it. I’m sorry if this sounds cruel, but I need to look out for myself, and you opened my eyes to the fact that I should be with my soulmate.”

Sam nodded, and the next hour went by with him sitting still while Jess packed whatever she had at his apartment. Once she was done, she kissed Sam’s cheek and hugged him tight. “I hope you find your way back to each other, Sam. You deserve to be happy.”

The sound of the door closing behind Jessica as she left was what finally did it for Sam, and he started crying. He cried for hours, missing his classes, simply curled up on his bed in a miserable ball of hurt. He had been bottling all these feelings up for months now; it was time to let it all flow out of him.

When he finally cried out every tear in his body, Sam pulled himself together. He emailed his teachers, letting them know that he was going to miss a few days. During those days, Sam let himself mourn. He mourned for himself, for Gabriel, and for Jess. When those days were up, Sam resolutely pulled on his big-boy pants and got back to work.

School was hard, which helped distract him from the hurt. His work-study job helped pick up the slack when he didn’t have classes. When neither of those helped, he always had Charlie. Since they couldn’t get together to hang out anymore, Friday nights had become Skype nights. Lately, since Anna had all but moved in with her soulmate, the three of them had begun conference-calling. Sometimes, Sam could see Charlie in the background of Anna’s screen, on her own computer, as the three of them talked.

Still, it made Sam smile to know that they were trying to be mindful of his heartbreak. It would have been so much harder to see them together, on the same screen, when he didn’t have anyone at all anymore.

When Sam missed their weekly conference, Charlie tried not to freak out. Thankfully, the next Friday didn’t end with a missed call. Sam joined them right on time, looking haggard but whole.

“You scared me! You didn’t tell me you weren’t going to make it last week. And you haven’t been answering my texts!” Charlie began as Sam came online.

“Sorry, Charlie. I’ve been busy with classes and work,” Sam hurriedly apologized.

“How’s law school, lawyer man?” Anna asked cheerfully as she joined them.

“It’s…lawyery,” Sam replied with a laugh. “How’s things back in Ohio?”

Anna and Charlie shared a look, one that Sam missed as he fiddled with a web page. They had agreed not to tell Sam of how bad Gabriel had gotten, lest he start feeling guilty. They both knew that Sam was doing what was best for himself, and neither wanted to bring him down from that.

“It’s pretty good. Charlie finally broke down and bought a new laptop,” Anna shared.

“No way!” Sam exclaimed. “You’ve had that thing for how long?”

“Ten years,” Charlie said sadly. “I took such great care of it. It was my baby.”

“Dork,” Anna said good-naturedly.

“You know you love me!”

“I suppose I must.”

Sam sat back and tuned them both out, his heart hurting with remembering how he and Jess had once ribbed each other that way. But remembering Jess brought back her words when she had left, prodding Sam to blurt out, “How’s Gabriel?”

Silence fell.

When Sam looked back to his computer, Anna and Charlie were sharing a look. Before he could ask, Charlie said brightly, “Oh, he’s great! He actually just met a guy the other week, and they’re getting kinda serious.”

“Oh, yeah?” Sam asked, his voice tight. “Who is it?”

“Uhh...some professor. Balthazar, I think?” Anna offered, completely missing Charlie’s wide-eyed look of horror.

Anna wasn’t aware of Sam’s unfounded jealousy of the other professor, one who had monopolized much of Gabriel’s time.

“Oh,” Sam said quietly, his tone defeated.

Trying to distract her best friend, Charlie quickly asked, “How’s things with Jess?”

Clearing his throat, Sam admitted, “We, uh… We broke up last week. That’s why I missed out Friday. But look, I gotta go. I have a lot of homework to do this weekend. I’ll see you guys later!”

Before either woman could say anything, Sam was gone. Left alone in their webchat, Charlie hissed at Anna, “Are you kidding me? He _hates_ Balthazar! He always thought the guy wanted to make a move on Gabe!”

“You’re the one who said he was dating someone to begin with! I was trying to help!”

“Wait, what are we doing?” Charlie asked suddenly. She closed her laptop and hurried to the bedroom where Anna was doing the same. “If Sam’s single now and Gabriel’s single… Are you thinking what I’m thinking?!”

“We have to get them back together!” Anna screeched.

“Exactly! We owe them that much for meddling like we have.”

Soon, the two had concocted a plan.

* * *

 

Gabriel pulled himself into a booth at the back of the Roadhouse. While he had pulled himself together enough to teach his classes, that was about all he’d been doing the last few months. Castiel had finally dragged him out of the house to go out for drinks.

While Cas was at the bar, getting their drinks, Gabriel psyched himself up to being in public. Before he could really get into the mood for company, Charlie darted over and plopped into the seat in front of him.

“Gabriel!” she said excitedly. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did,” he said, only halfway joking.

“Is it true that you were willing to move to California with Sam?” she asked, ignoring his sarcasm.

“Who told you that?” Gabriel asked sharply.

“Castiel said you talk in your sleep. He heard you ‘talking’ to Sam about it one night. So? Is that true?”

With a sigh, Gabriel nodded his head. “Yeah, but that ship has sailed. He’s got his own place, a great girlfriend, and his dreams are all coming true. And I’m stuck here, trying to pick up the pieces.”

Nearly vibrating out of her seat, Charlie blurted out, “Sam and Jess broke up!”

“And? What does that have to do with me?” the teacher asked.

“And, you go and get him back!” she exclaimed.

“He doesn’t want to be with me, remember? He moved halfway across the country to prove it,” Gabriel said, his tone defeated, though he couldn’t deny the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach at the news.

“Gabriel, you goofball! You know that he loves you, right?”

“He… He never said,” Gabriel said breathlessly, showing the first bit of emotion he’d shown so far.

“He asks about you every time we talk. He wanted you to move to California with him. But you two numbnuts are too thick to actually _talk_ about something! He told me that he almost begged you to go with him, but when you said all that stuff about being with other people, he didn’t want to seem desperate,” Charlie admitted.

“What am I going to do?” Gabriel moaned as his head hit the table.

“Go see him,” the redhead urged.

“How am I supposed to do that? What do I say? Oh, hey, heard you’re single again, let’s get together? It doesn’t work like that, Charlie.”

“But it could! Gabriel, you just have to take a chance! Please, for both of your sake’s. Just give it a chance,” Charlie pleaded.

“I’ll… I’ll think about it,” he agreed.

Seeing that she would get no more out of him, Charlie nodded and got up. Leaning across the table, she kissed his cheek. “I’m here if you need me.” And with that, she walked away.

Cas returned with their drinks, passing Charlie as he walked to the table. “Was that-? Gabriel? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just have a lot to think about.”

And think about it, he did. For a whole month. Putting it off constantly, he was finally confronted by his cousin and her lover, two flame-haired banshees come to punish him.

“Why haven’t you gone to see Sam yet?” Charlie demanded.

“Or at least called him!” Anna added.

“I don’t want to bother him! He’s been in class,” Gabriel said.

“Stop bullshitting us and call him,” Anna ordered before she grabbed Charlie’s wrist and dragged her girlfriend out of the apartment. She stood at the door and turned to glare at Gabriel. “If you don’t, I’ll disown you,” she simply said and then left Gabriel to think.

The teacher grabbed his phone and dialed Sam’s number and then erased it a couple of times. A while later, he decided maybe a text message would be better. He feared Sam seeing his number and not picking up. He didn’t think he could handle such rejection.

 _< Hey Sammy, what’s up?> _Gabriel typed in the message box, but quickly deleted it.

 _< Hi, Sam. I miss you.> _He shook his head and deleted the words slowly.

 _< I love you and I want to marry you, and have lots of children with you and maybe some puppies.> _Gabriel typed, not intending to even send it. He only needed to get the words out of his system.

After a couple of failed attempts at writing a text message, Gabriel decided that maybe texting wasn’t the way to go with this. He went to his bedroom and plopped down on his bed, thinking of a way to win Sam back. It took the teacher a few minutes before his eyes felt heavy and he fell into a deep slumber, something that hadn’t been happening ever since Sam left.

He was woken by someone licking his nose, and when he opened his eyes he saw the cutest golden retriever puppy, sleeping on his chest and wetting his nose for him. Before he had a chance to talk, he heard Sam’s voice coming from the hallway,

“Snickers! Come on, girl! Where are you?” Sam sounded cheerful.

The dog started wagging her tail, and when Sam showed in the door frame, she quickly jumped down from Gabriel’s chest and over to Sam, who had crouched to welcome her into his arms.

“She woke you up didn’t she?” he asked with a silly tone.

Gabriel was all kinds of surprised. “ _This can’t be real_ ,” he thought to himself.

“N… No, it’s okay,” he said hesitantly.

“I told the little devil to leave you alone. I told her daddy needed his nap, but you spoil her too much!” Sam said and then sat down next to Gabriel, brushing some hair strands from his face.

Gabriel smiled and leaned into Sam’s touch. He closed his eyes and wished to never wake up from this blissful dream. Sam bent down and planted a gentle kiss on Gabriel’s lips, and the older man felt himself drifting back to sleep. When he opened his eyes, he was back in his room. His cold and empty room.

The next morning, Gabriel set his things in order. He booked a flight, bought a puppy, and headed to the airport. Nearly eight hours later, he exited San Francisco International Airport and stared around him. It was time to get his man back.

* * *

 

Christmas Eve. Sam had thought he’d be spending the day with Jess, baking cookies and drinking hot cocoa, laughing over some dorky Christmas movie. Instead, he was all alone, in a cold apartment, trying not to cry. Feeling suddenly claustrophobic, Sam knew he had to get out of his home before he went insane.

He grabbed his coat and headed out, thinking some fresh air would do him right, but taking a walk seemed to be a bad idea as well. Everywhere he looked, there were couples snuggling together, families enjoying their night out, even the homeless man at the corner had his dog to keep him company.

He felt tears burning his eyes, he couldn’t help but think of Gabriel, Charlie, Anna and Cas. Those four had become his family in Ohio, and he would give anything to be with them tonight. He thought of calling Charlie and Anna on Skype, but the thought of interrupting their first Christmas as a couple made him uneasy. He knew Charlie would drop everything if she sensed he was upset in any way.

He turned around and trekked back to his building. It was colder and lonelier than he had thought. He decided to order some pizza, watch _It’s A Wonderful Life,_ and at best fall asleep in front of the TV.

When Sam returned from his walk, feeling more melancholy than when he’d left, he barely noticed the tiny puppy sitting on his doorstep. In all honesty, he probably would have stepped on the poor thing had it not barked at him.

Looking down, his heart melted at the sight of the tiny golden puppy. Sam assumed it was a girl, due to the hot pink collar and matching leash, the latter of which was securely looped around his doorknob.

Picking the puppy up, Sam saw that he was right. “Hey, little girl. What are you doing here, huh?” He held the little thing close to his chest, his earlier woes forgotten with the warmth of the puppy and the oddly comforting scent of puppy breath. Fumbling with her collar, Sam tried to find a name tag. “What’s your name, sweet girl?” he asked the puppy, obviously not expecting an answer.

When it came, Sam nearly dropped the poor thing.

“It’s Snickerdoodle. But I call her Snickers.”

“Gabriel!” Sam cried out, whirling around and causing the puppy to yelp in distress.

“Heya, Sammy,” the older man said sheepishly, hands in his pockets.

“W-what are you doing here?”

“Missing you?” Gabriel said with half a smile.

Sam’s heart leapt at the smile Gabriel flashed him. He had missed his soulmate, but now, when he was within arm’s reach, it seemed so much worse. Knowing it was his decision for the two of them to no longer be together, he had no right to hug Gabriel.

“Wait, what?” Sam asked, only now realizing what Gabriel had said.

“I said, I miss you,” Gabriel repeated, taking a step closer and petting the dog, which Sam was still holding close to his chest.

“Oh,” Sam half smiled. “You want to come in?” he asked, feeling nervous.

“Sure, Sammy,” Gabriel replied.

Suddenly, the nervousness was gone. “So, why Snickerdoodle? Where’d you get the name?” Sam asked as he opened the door.

“I guess you could say I got it from the Ghost of Christmas Future.”

* * *

 

A year later, Dean Winchester opened the mailbox to get the day’s mail. Bills, bills, more bills. At the bottom of the stack, there was an envelope addressed to Dean from Sam. Inside was a Christmas card.

_“Merry Christmas, Dean! Wish you were here! Figured you could do with a recent picture of me, so here it is. Beside me is my soulmate, Gabriel. The girls are my best friend, Charlie, and her soulmate, Gabe’s cousin, Anna. The brooding guy on the end is Anna’s brother, Castiel._

_You’ll always be my family, Dean, but it’s like Bobby always says. Family don’t end with blood. I hope you’ll get to meet them one day. They’re all pretty awesome. Maybe we’ll see you next year, if Snickers can learn to ride in cars by then._

_All my love,_

_Sam”_

Dean’s heart stopped in his chest. His eyes scanning back over the card, he studied one name in particular. In disbelief, he tugged his shirt up, revealing the calligraphy scrawled across his belly.

_Castiel M._

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

**_ The End _ **

** **

** **

 

 

Art by [Luce](http://lucifer-shipping-stydia.tumblr.com)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoyed the ride. Until next time!


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